Bless This Wayward Daughter
by Brooklyn Knight
Summary: "Let me die." "You already did. It's time to start living again." Odette was the sheep that strayed from the flock. With her mother's death, the black sheep of the family returns in hopes of redemption for her past sins. She's a woman on a mission: to keep what family she has left intact. And no cop killing bank robbers or ancient evil army is gonna get in the way of that.
1. Prologue ※ Bear the Burden

_**WARNING:** Mentions of sensitive/triggering topics which you'll be given a disclaimer at the beginning of the chapter for. Seth x OC fanfiction. All chapters including graphic sex are marked with MA. Otherwise rated M for violence, language, and drug use. Please give it and my OC time to develop and reveal her back story. (Its boring learning all about a character at once.) My characters opinions are not my own. I do not always approve/condone nor do I necessarily disagree/condemned whatever my characters think, say, or do. Now, Enjoy!_

* * *

You ought to know where I'm coming from  
How I was alone when I burnt my home  
And all of the pieces were torn and thrown  
You should know where I'm coming from

BANKS : You Should Know

* * *

 **Bless This Wayward Daughter**

 **Prologue**

Bear the Burden

* * *

There was something about a cold shower that made it easier for Odette Fuller think. When that cold water hit her skin, it seemed everything else disappeared and clarity came to her in full force. But on this day, when she sought clarity on her choices under that chilling spray, even colder memories emerged.

We're all just stories in the end. Memories and tales we tell our loved ones to share with them the love and joy the ones we've lost brought us. But sometimes, to protect those you love, you have to censor the ending. And you yourself bear the burden of the truth as you smile and tell the children everyone lived happily ever after.

Odette remembers this every time she thought back on her mother's funeral service.

It was far too sunny out for such a morbid occasion. Odette Fuller, the first born child of Jennifer and Jacob Fuller, narrowed her eyes as she gazed up at the cloudless blue sky. There was a light breeze in the air, carrying the smell of newly bloomed flowers and remnants of rain. It seemed the storm had passed quicker than they thought.

Her younger sister, Kate, shifted closer to her as the service continued. Her chestnut hair was pulled into a simple braid, her face clear of makeup, and her eyes fixed permanently at red and puffy. No tears came though.

On the other side of her stood their father and baby brother Scott. They seemed to be in much of the same situation, keep it together for just today, promising themselves tomorrow they could go back to falling apart.

A single glance over her shoulder found Odette staring into a sea of saddened faces. Their entire congregation had shown up for the funeral of their reverend's wife. The saint of Bethel. Taken from them far too soon.

If only they knew...

"Grant this mercy, O Lord, we beseech thee, to thy servant departed, that she may not receive in punishment the requital of her deeds who in desire did keep thy will. And as the true faith here united her to the company of the faithful, so may thy mercy unite her above to the choirs of angels. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."

"Amen." The congregation repeated. From the outskirts of the Fuller family, Odette toyed with the cross around her neck. She paused for a moment before her own mumbled Amen.

"May her soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God, rest in peace."

And with those final words, Jennifer Fuller was laid to rest.

Odette made herself scarce after the service. Months had passed since her return to the Fuller family and congregation. Enough for the flock to get a good look at the stained black sheep. Putting on her sunglasses, Odette used them as a mental shield. The simple black glass and plastic kept the judgmental looks and accusing whispers from penetrating her skin. She knew what they thought of her. The whore. The druggie. The traitor...

It was nothing she hadn't heard in her head every morning and every night.

If they thought she would run scared because of their pointed fingers and narrowed gaze, they were dead wrong.

Odette was never one to run from a fight.

Taking a seat on a shaded bench on the outskirts of the cemetery, the oldest Fuller child observed the flock split into groups. Among themselves, they shared fond memories and gossip about the latest happenings in Bethel.

"For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged." She whispered aloud. Needing to get out of the sun, she took refuge under the large tree that shaded far beyond the small marble bench. Putting her head back, her eyes lost their focus as they looked up to the vibrant green leaves that rustled in the light breeze. They seemed to shimmer. And for some unexplainable reason, it made Odette grin through her grief.

There was a memory somewhere in her head, trying to get out but too faded and short for her to reach. All she could remember is the feeling of comfort and joy, and the sound of young Kate squealing in delight.

And the smell...when she closed her eyes she could swear she could smell her mother. An old perfume they stopped making, a random whiff of something clean like linens. Her mother always smelt like slightly musky, but clean, linens pulled from the closet. Her smile returned to a sad frown when it faded. She'd never smell it again. This time when she closed her eyes it was to hold back the tears that threatened to escape.

She had to be strong, if not for herself than for them.

"They're talking about you. They're _always_ talking about you." Odette turned to the disgruntled voice.

Her baby brother, Scott, glared at them with the pure fury he knew they wished they could glare at her.

 _Such a sweet boy. Always so protective._ "I know." She wrapped her arm around his shoulder, pulling him closer to her as she kissed his creased forehead. "Ignore them. How are you holding up?"

Scott's face was still twisted in anger, refusing to take his eyes off the older woman who watched his sister like a zoo animal. It was the anger that kept him from falling apart. His glare hid his red and tear brimmed eyes, the scrunch of his face covering the quivering of his lip. _He was trying so hard to be brave._ "It's okay to cry, Scottie. It's mom's funeral. She'd want you to cry..." Odette removed her sunglasses to show her own tears.

At the sight of it, Scott wiped at his face, sniffling back the saline that tried to escape. Odette's attention turned towards the center of the circus. Her father and Kate thanked the attendants and received their well-wishes and promises of prayers. Kate was despondent. The sudden death of their mother shaking the girl to the very core.

For three days the younger girl cried nonstop. It seemed physically impossible, but sure enough, the tears kept coming through night and day, wailing screams and fits of rivers or mute little droplets. Now she was living up to the expression "all cried out".

"She just stands there saying thank you. I don't even think she's hearing any of it."

"She's out for the count, Scott. That's okay. If we ever deserve a day to just shut down and ask to be left alone, this is that day."

Fumbling with the cuffs of his suit, Scott braced his arms on his knees and sat forward. Had his mother been alive, she would have frowned and motioned for him to sit up.

But she wasn't here anymore.

"They keep asking me what happened." His head cocked to the side to look at his sister. "I keep telling them she died in the accident. That the deer caught them by surpr-" Scott had to stop himself. He lost it. Covering his face with his hands, he tried to hide the brutal assault of tears and whimpers that beat him.

Odette hugged him in an attempt to shield him from the glances he would hate to bring. Leaning over him, she rubbed his back and whispered soothing words as he racked with sobs. The visualization that came with the thought too much for him to handle. Unlike Kate, he had been quiet and morose these past days. Trying to be brave as Dad went into autopilot, Kate broke into hysterics, and Odette tried to keep the service planned accordingly even with the constant barrage of whispered accusations from near everyone they knew.

But now it was their day to mourn. And no one could judge them for that.

"He won't - tell us what - happened." He quietly hiccuped. Odette looked towards her father through her blurry vision.

He couldn't tell them. They wouldn't be able to bear that burden. How do you tell a child their mother...

"Do you?" Scott sat up out of her embrace.

"What?" She looked back to him. Her throat suddenly to dry.

"Did he tell you?"

Yes. Jacob hadn't know who else to call. Even though he didn't wish this burden on anyone, especially his born-conflicted Odette, he needed someone at the hospital with him. And she had always been so level-headed when she was sober. He needed that clarity right then.

Left alone in the room as the nurse left for more morphine, he let out the truth as if he was replaying it in real time inside his head. He didn't seem to really see Odette as he stared right at her.

She had always looked so much like Jennifer...

When she finally was able to make out his mumbled words, the truth hit her full force. She had discovered her mother's bipolar disorder only a few weeks prior, she just didn't know it had gotten that bad. Finally, one single realization shocked him out of his dazed stupor. If anyone discovered she had killed herself, she wouldn't have been allowed to be laid to rest at the church she gave her life too. And Kate and Scott...

The elder Fullers made an agreement. They couldn't, and wouldn't, let that happen...

"Yes." She admitted to him.

"Would you tell me?"

"No."

Scott's face morphed into anger once more, sliding over on the bench and away from her. "Why not?!"

"Because I'm your big sister and it's my job to look out for you. Even if that means keeping things from you."

"What does that even _mean_?"

"It means dwelling on it and elongating your grief will do nothing to help this family." She cupped his face with force, needing him to pay close attention and understand that their mother's death was better left in the past.

Scott ripped himself from her grip. "You're one to talk about family." Standing up, he looked at her with red cheeks and redder eyes. "I wish it was you in that grave."

Odette stared after her brother's retreating form, a sudden calmness taking over her as she listened to the leaves rustle above. "Me too, kid."

Three months later he nearly got his wish.

Her head pressed against the cold tile wall, flashes of memory played in her head as she rinsed her hair of suds.

 _"Let me die." She moaned. She was tired. Physically, mentally, morally… She just wanted it to end._

 _Alex picked up her limp body, carrying her over the mess on the floor and unconscious dealer. "You already did. It's time to start living again."_

The rapping of knuckles against the door brought her from her memory. "What?" She turned off the water.

"You okay in there, Ettie?"

"Y-Yeah, dad."

"Come on sweetheart, we gotta hit the road."

"I'll just be twenty minutes." She called out.

"Alright, sweetheart."

Hearing his heavy footsteps leave, her head fell back against the cool tile. Her eyes wandered down to her arms. The white scars that littered her veins made her eyes burn.

Always the family fuck up, she had only last three months before relapsing. Luckily her father called Alex, a dear friend and bartender at the club she used to sing at. A proud son of the Comanche Nation, if it wasn't for his honed hunting skills and vast insight into her lack of thought process, she's be buried six feet deep a long time ago.

But he had been right. It was time to start living again...

* * *

Odette pulled her freshly straightened hair into a pony tale. Making sure she had her book, laptop, and cellphone, she grabbed her pack and headed out. Since her release from rehab, she'd been staying back in her old room.

The past month hadn't been easy for anyone. Kate was constantly trying to find a fault to justify her never-ending anger. Dad was torn between being the warm and compassionate father and the strict warden she seemed to need. And Scott… Scott's resentment had eased but never faded.

Though they loved their sister dearly it had always been Ettie and Scott against Katie and their parents. They just understood each other better. The two that didn't quite fit into the picture their parents so desperately wanted. Scott with his looks and passions and Ettie with her wild spirit.

"Wayward" is how her mother used to describe it. Unpredictable and hard to fathom, she prayed for her eldest child to find guidance and a calm life every night.

At least until the end.

Mama didn't just give up praying for Odette, she gave up praying entirely.

And no matter what she thought she knew or her father told her, Ettie always felt it contributed to her mother's death.

Six months after the accident, she and her father had agreed a change of scenery was in order for everyone. Katie and Scott hadn't been doing well in school, Dad was currently trying to hide his resignation, and Ettie herself felt the town's eyes on her everywhere she went. It made her cagey and nervous. It was a slip up waiting to happen.

She knew this plan was what was best for the family. She just wasn't sure if she was considered part of it anymore.

She walked down the staircase one final time. Her hand gripping the smooth wood handrail that she used to let Kate and Scott slid down when she would babysit. Her foot hit the fifth stair that always creaked. No matter how many times dad 'fixed it' it seemed to enjoy it's uniqueness. She could understand that, she thought with a bitter smile.

Many broken curfews had been caught as a result of that damn squeak.

It pained her to know this would probably be the last time she walked down these stairs.

"Scottie! Katie! Let's go!" She called up to the second story.

Her siblings weren't far behind, Scott rushing down before jumping the last couple steps. "Don't forget your headphones." She mothered as he passed. "Katie, a little more enthusiasm please."

You'd think she was walking to her death the way she took her time.

"Don't forget your headphones, Scott."

"Already told him."

"Did you also tell him not to forget his books?"

"I didn't, actually!" Odette smiled good-naturedly. "Because this is a vacation, not a summer school field trip."

"Yeah. Not everyone can be an honor student Kate." Scott was eager to agree with her.

Katie looked from her victorious brother to her sister. With a stoic face she paused before calling for Scott. "Did you check her bag?"

Odette's eyebrows raised nearly to her hairline in challenge. "Wow. Okay." She turned to point at her brother approaching her purse on the counter. "Touch it and no amount of martial arts classes will keep me from kicking your butt, you little twerp." Once Scott backed away from the purse with his hands raised, she turned back on her sister. "You got a problem, Katie?"

"No. You do." Those round blue eyes burned into her.

"Had! I had a problem. I'm better now." Her voice was quite. And even though it was out of self-embarrassment, Katie took it as her being unsure.

"That's what you said last time. And then you disappeared _again_."

"I'm not leaving Kate."

"You said that too." She pressured, crossing her arms. "How could you do that to daddy? How could you do that to us? You made us think you were all better and then you were right back to sticking that needle in your arm. Daddy had to call Alex-" Kate grew more frantic with each passing word, the accusation and high pitch stabbing at Odette's heart. "-and even _he_ was worried! And me and Scott-" she looked towards her brother who tried to make himself scarce. "-daddy wouldn't let us out of his sight. He wanted to home-school us again!"

Odette rubbed at her temples before her hands flung out in a defensive position. The sudden motion caught Kate off guard, silencing her. "I get it, Katie! I screwed up on biblical levels, as you are so eager to remind me, I get it! I left and ruined my life and you and Scott paid the price. Congratulations! You're the family saint." She mock saluted the girl, letting her arms fall to her side. "But for Christ's sake, _I'M TRYING_!" Her eyes burned as they stared into Kate's. "Which is more than I can say for you." She dug back.

It had been a month since her return and Kate had the uncanny ability to somehow be the most aggressively passive aggressive person she knew. She may have been 5'3 and a hundred pounds with the face of a twelve-year-old, but she glared like a battle hardened soldier. "Now hate me, and yell at me, and wish I was the one dead in the grave,-" Scott looked to his feet. "-but guess what kiddo…this time, I'm not going anywhere. Now, _please_ , get in the stupid RV!" Her arm flung out towards the door.

Kate remained stationary. She stayed calm and collected as Odette heaved in frustration and Scott shifted awkwardly towards the front door. Finally, she picked up her own bag and walked out.

Odette laid her hand over her face, breathing deeply to keep herself collected. She was so tired of her mistakes constantly being thrown at her face, intentionally or not.

From behind her, she was suddenly embraced. "I didn't mean it." Scott hugged her tighter.

His sister grabbed the arms around her, squeezing them firmly in appreciation. She was pretty sure that was a lie, but she wasn't gonna call him out on it. "I know." She walked out of his grip to grab her purse. "Come on, dad's waiting."

Scott walked ahead of her before she stopped at the open door and called out "Headphones!" She gave him a knowing look as he quickly passed her back into the house, grabbing them from the counter.

Locking up the front door, Odette looked around the community she had once been a star in.

That's the thing about stars. They burn bright and look beautiful from a distance, but they've burned up and faded away long before you realize it.

"Come on, Ettie!" Her father called from the RV. Hopefully, the monster of a van would be big enough to cope with their baggage.

 _It was gonna be a very long trip._

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 **Please Review :)**

 ***Thanks go out to Sarcastic-Enigma who test read this for me and all the support I've gotten for this story.  
**


	2. 1x02 ※ Prideful Lions

-:BTWD:-

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I'mma hold my cards close  
I'm a wreck what I love most  
I'm a first class letdown  
I'm a "shut up, sit down"  
I am a headcase  
I am the color of boom

Imagine Dragons : Polaroid

* * *

 **Bless This Wayward Daughter**

 **Blood Runs Thick  
**

 ** _Prideful Lions_  
**

* * *

"You are the opera always on time and in tune. And I am the color of- . All my life, I've been living in the fast lane! Can't slow down, I'm a rolling freight train! One more time, gotta start all over! Can't slow down, I'm a lone red rover! _Ooohhh_!"

Jacob Fuller smiled at his daughter. It had only been a few days and already she seemed to be feeling the affects of a change in scenery. Her hands tapped against the large steering wheel as she sang along with her music. He hadn't heard her sing in such a long time. He glanced over his shoulder.

Scott was in his own world with his headphones in and Katie-Kakes was texting as she nodding her head to the tempo and mouthed the words. She had always been such a self-conscious singer. Shame, since with a little practice he was sure she'd show the talent her mama and sister had. Well maybe not her sister...but a beautiful voice none the less.

As the song lulled, Jacob took the slight intermission to turn down the volume. Trying not to suffocate under the mess of a map he had foolishly unfolded, Jacob asked her to pull over so he could get a handle on where they were without his eyes going cross.

"Can't slow down, I'm a lone red rover!" She sang in jest. He didn't find it as funny as she thought.

"Well, right now you're a lost Fuller." He hands didn't even know where to grab the mess of paper that had somehow become a never ending sphere of red and blue lines that nearly smothered him in his seat. From the drivers seat, Odette rolled her eyes. Her father's unrealistic attempt to keep from becoming dependent on the 'fancy' technology of their generation would never cease to amaze her.

Whether he wanted to admit it or not, they were lost.

Not that they had any set direction other than the Mexican border, but after that pit stop at the Museum of the Weird (per Scott's insistent requesting) she wasn't even sure they were headed south anymore. Didn't help that their father was basing his directions off what could only have been a twenty year old map.

 _Men_ , she shook her head. Mama was right, not even men of the cloth were immune to the deadly sin of pride when in a car.

So she did what her mother would have done and kept driving until she found a gas station. She shushed her father with a long hiss as he began to tell her how to pull in to the small dirt and gravel station. She was the best driver in the family and they knew it. Technically the one accident on her record wasn't even hers. She had covered for the panicking Kate, who for some reason thought a small bump to someone's bumper was the equivalent to running over their elderly grandmother. At least it felt that way with the way she had curled up on the ground and wheezed. On the upside, the other driver was so worried over her meltdown he didn't even care about the barely there dent to his bumper.

Parking the RV off to the side, Odette made sure she wasn't blocking any possible traffic before turning off the Winnebago and unbuckling. "Bathroom and junk food break!" She called, taking the phone from Katie's hand as she passed by to grab the headphones out of Scott's ears. "Fresh air. Come on." She shooed them up and out. "Want anything?" She called back to her father. Still, he flung about, trying to find some resemblance of an edge to start at.

"I'm good, sweetheart."

Before she closed the door she left him one final piece of advice. "When pride comes, then comes disgrace. Proverbs 11:2." Her father mumbled under his breath a retort about arrogance as he waved her out.

* * *

"Katie, you're on soda and energy drinks. Scott, chips and snacks. Don't forget my sour-gummy worms." She motioned for them to split apart and begin their search.

Scott was much more enthusiastic with his little mission, happily confirming a salute and "got it!" before wandering down through the isles while Kate soundlessly headed towards the refrigeration units with a small carry basket.

Towards the back of the store, Odette thumbed through a number of pamphlets and touristy advertisements as she searched for an updated map. Soon enough her fingers were tapping along to the song stuck in her head, then followed the nodding, and finally she began quietly singing. " _I am the color of boom, that's never arriving. And you are the pay raise, always a touch out of view. And I am the color of-._ "

"Beautiful voice." She jumped, not hearing the attendant arrive behind her. "Sorry!" He was quick to apologize.

"Nope, entirely my fault. Should have been paying attention."

"Do you sing professionally?"

The question caught her off guard. "I did." She hesitated. "For awhile"

"What happened? If you don't mind me prying!" He quickly interjected when her face lost a bit of it's shine.

"Just...didn't like the lifestyle anymore."

He picked up on her desire to change the topic. "Can I help you with anything?"

"Yeah, actually. Do you have a map?"

"Sure do! Loads of them! Which kind? Sights to see? Local discounts? RV logging?"

"Texas?" she smiled hopefully.

The attendant smiled and adjusted his cap. Boyd, as his name tag red, wrinkled his nose in amusement. "Texas is a big state, Ma'am."

"Yes it is. Very big! Easy to get lost in...kind of why I need the map." She hinted.

Her leaning in might not have been the best idea. It, paired with the quiet tone, seemed to send the wrong signal. "Well I'll have to look in the back for a big one but... I'm sure I could give it to you." He whispered to her with a wink before eyeing her up and down.

Odette made no obvious sign of rejection or acceptance to his blatant advance. In all honesty she was taken too much by surprise to do anything other than lift her brow line and feel her eyes widen. When he stepped closer she stood still but moved her head back. _Wow. Just...wow._

"Excuse me!"

God bless Kaitlyn Anne Fuller.

Odette looked over his shoulder to see Scott and Kate glare at the older man with obvious distaste. "Yes, sweetie?" He tried to be friendly through his annoyance at the interruption.

"We'd liked to be checked out."

When the attendant looked back to Odette with a clear misunderstanding of the phrase, Scott cleared his throat loudly.

The littlest Fullers were not amused. Before he had a chance to respond, they raised their filled hands and basket towards him.

Odette had to cover her mouth to hid the shit eating grin as he unenthusiastically took the bags Scott held out and the basket Kate handed over. Like a gate, they parted to give him room to leave before turning to observe him as they closed their ranks. A protective barrier to their sister.

They hadn't done that since they were little kids.

Wrapping an arm around each other their shoulders, she pulled them close to her. "God bless you two." She rubbed at their heads. And just like when they were children, they pushed her away and tried to fix it.

Maybe some things don't change after all.

* * *

" _-the department of public safety has just put out an advisory for two men reportedly behind a violent bank robbery in Abilene this morning. They're looking for two males, late 20s, wearing dark-blue suits, believed to be armed and danger-_ " The emergency news broadcast was cut off when her father turned the channel.

Odette scoffed a laugh, looking at him with disbelief. "I was listening to that, ya know."

"No need to be listening to things that'll only scare your siblings."

"Their closer to twenty than twelve, dad."

"Well then there's no need to hear things that'll give _me_ nightmares." Finding a gospel station wasn't that hard in the heart of Texas. And when their father heard the hint of one he turned up the radio, effectively ending their discussion. Not particularly caring for the tune, she huffed and moved to the back table. Kate squeezed passed her into the newly emptied passenger seat.

" _Oh, come, angel band come and around me stand oh, bear me away on your snowy white wings to my immortal home._ " He caterwauled. Seeing Kate take Odette's place, he spared her a smile. "You and your sister got your mother's voice, obviously. Guess I should have used some of that collection money for singing lessons." He a joke to cheer up the still crestfallen girl.

"I don't think the congregation could stand it, daddy. So, have you decided yet? Are we going to the beach?"

"Well, I don't rightly know, Katie-kakes. Why? Do you want to go to a beach?"

Kate's brows furrowed. "What else is there to do in Mexico?"

"Well, I'm sure there's lots to do there. They do have beaches, but they also got mountains, and deserts, and ruins. Hey, remember when your sister went down for her class trip? To the uh.. Talsa...Tumber?"

"Tulum Ruins." Odette called from the table. Opening up her laptop, she spared Kate a glance. "Ruins _and_ a beach." Her thumbs up may have seemed sarcastic but they were entirely genuine. Beautiful place, the Tulum Ruins. She's make sure to make them do it. The beautiful beach and fresh air would do Katie some good.

"Thank you sweetheart."

Kate turned back to her father. "So, which one are we going to?"

"Wherever the wind takes us." He was quick to change the topic. "Come on. Sing with me. _I am weak but thou art strong_!"

"Yeah, right. No, thanks." She rejected the offer. Kate Fuller did not sing anywhere but a church pew.

When her phone chimed with a new text, her father cut his singing. To Jacob it seemed the girl got more text messages the past three days then he's received all his life. "Who's that?"

"Nobody."

He'd heard that line before and knew exactly what it meant. A boy.

 _Lord save him._

"Is that that Winthrop boy from church?!"

"His name is Kyle." She corrected. "And he just wants to know when we're gonna be back."

"Kyle can wait." He glanced back at his elder daughter in the review mirror bad memories coming to him. "As a matter of fact, waiting is a fine skill for him to acquire."

"Ha, ha. Very funny." She droned. "Daddy? This whole thing...it's all so sudden, don't you think?"

"Well, I prefer spontaneous."

"But we're not gonna be gone too long, right? I mean, we got school."

"Well, you and your brother are both exceptional students. So you'll catch up, or you'll go back to homeschooling."

"You're kidding me, right? It's my senior year, dad! I-I have homecoming and-and friends and _I have a life!_ "

The sudden outburst from the quietest Fuller pierced Scott's music. Looking towards Odette, he began to take his headphones off when she motioned for him to keep them on and go back to reading his comic.

"You certainly do, with me and Ettie and Scott, right here on this RV." He gently slapped the steering wheel.

Kate stared at him with such coldness he wasn't sure if she was gonna scream or cry. Instead she looked towards the open road, not a single other car in sight. Despite her attempt to keep calm, she found herself unable to make peace with it. She huffed indignantly and marched to the back.

When she slid in across Odette, he knew he had stuck his foot in it. Jacob Fuller was no fool. He hadn't missed the callousness in which Kate regarded her older sister. Though the two had never been the closest, the distance between them now seemed to stretch as long and wide at the state of Texas. And while he wished for the happy family they had once been, he was ashamed to admit he wasn't sure he wanted them to forgive her.

No matter how hard it had been on Jen and him, it was nothing in comparison to what those kids went through. Ettie had always shone like a star. And when she took off the Fullers were left in darkness. He had faith in the lord and his daughter. But damn if he prayed everyday they wouldn't be put through that again.

And thus Odette froze. Scared that the subtlest motion would send her skittering away like a baby deer. Kate fumbled with the phone in her hands before looking at her. Odette immediately turned back to her computer, trying to get the damn thing to get a signal. She felt Kate's stare before she heard her scoff.

 _Damn it._ "What's wrong, now?" _Why did she do this to herself?_

Kate looked out the window and then back to her. Obviously wanting to talk about something but not yet wanting to end the cold war between them.

Closing her eyes to keep them from rolling, Odette gave a terse smile. "You can ask me something while still hating me. Don't worry, I don't expect to be braiding hair and talking about boys anytime soon."

It seemed to crack her. "Actually..."

 _Boys._ "Boys?"

"Just one."

"Kyle Winthrop?"

"I don't want to go to Mexico."

"Well you're sorta on the wrong bus for that aren't you?"

"Kyle thinks it's stupid, what we're doing. I don't disagree."

"Katie, I love you, even if you don't believe it." She added when Katie looked away. "But, I say this with all affection and sincerity, Kyle's an asshole."

By the glare she received, Odette had a feeling the war was no longer cold. "No he's not. He's sweet and smart and-"

"And an 18 year old boy. Who he is with you is not who he is as a person. Trust me. No matter what he's like, he's an asshole. Can't help it! They're just programmed that way!" She gave a closed mouth smile to the fuming girl. Plugging her earphones into the computer jack, Odette leaned closer to whisper. "So whatever you and he are planning..." Kate tensed up. "Just don't." Kate had forgotten that when she was sober, Odette had the eyes of a hawk.

As her sister began fiddling around on her music library, Kate opened up the new text from Kyle. Hesitance suddenly creeping up on her, she tried to stall for time.

* * *

The light sleep Odette had fallen into was cut short when her body was propelled off the couch by the RV's sharp stop. Bracing herself with the table at the last minute, she couldn't even contain the curse that left her startled lips. Luckily only Scott heard it. He, too, was too jarred to call her out on it.

"What the frack, dad?" Scott used what a politer version of how his sister choose to express herself. Whatever he and Kate had been talking about up here was enough to make him lose his temper.

"Okay." He turned towards his three children pointing a finger at them in stern warning. "This is the last time I'm gonna say this. I've told you both all I care to say about that night. Now, the subject is _closed_. Nothing good is gonna come out of dwelling on it. Now, we're going on this trip, and we're moving on with our lives. Is that clear?"

"You're right, dad." Kate's tone went flat. "I won't ask any more questions."

A heavy silence encompassed the RV as Kate went to seal herself off in the back. Whatever sign she needed that leaving was the right thing, that was the closest she was gonna get. It was pretty clear, too.

In the front of the RV, looking at his oldest and youngest, Jacob swallowed and tried to change the topic. "Ettie, why don't you use that fancy phone of yours to find us someplace good to eat."

Without another word, he began to move like nothing happened. Scott looked towards Odette. Odette looked towards their father. When no one said anything, she turned her wide eyes to Scott and with a hand on his shoulder steered him back to the table. "So...barbecue anyone?" She's always been good at distractions. But she wasn't so sure this was something to keep sweeping under the rug.

* * *

She should have known something was off when Katie opted to stay in the RV while they grabbed lunch. _Stupid, stupid, stupid!_

 _Bob's Brisket'_ s ribs were surprisingly good for being in the middle of nowhere. The three of them were having a nice time with some damn good food, and in full Fuller mentality it just didn't seem as happy with the knowledge someone was missing out. So Odette had been asked to try and coax Kate from her pouting.

Imagine her great surprise to find the RV void of anyone. Placing a hand over her forehead she looked around the empty unit with disbelief. "Kate Fuller, you'll be the death of me."

Which was true. Because if the stress didn't get her, her father likely would.

Dropping their food, the three asked other patrons to keep and eye out for her as they went searching in the woods. Alex's teachings had once bored her beyond belief, but now that little bit of Comanche hunting How-To was coming in handy. Behind her Scott and her father called for her endlessly.

Guilt settled deep in her stomach, making it hard to focus as she wondered if this is what they felt like and what it had to feel like going through it again.

"Kate, come back!"

"Where are you, Katie-Kates?"

When they found the dirt road, it took less then a minute for them to jog and catch her. Having been caught red handed, she seemed conflicted as she looked at them, ruffled and worried, before looking at her boyfriend who stood stoic and intimidating. He slammed the red truck door closed and wandered up to her.

"Kate, w-what are you doing?"

"Kate, what the hell? You were gonna leave me, too?" Scott's voice broke.

Odette ran a hand through her hair, fixing the loose strays out of her face before holding them back and scratching at the back of her head. A habit of hers when she was irritated and needed to think. "What's the hell are you doing?"

"She texted him." Scott glared. "I saw her."

"Tattletale."

"Sorry you had to drive all the way out here, son. I do appreciate your concern for my daughter, but this here is a family matter. It's-It's none of your business."

Something seemed off about the Winthrop boy. Something about the way he looked at the Reverend with narrowed eyes. The Kyle she remembered meeting was too fidgety and respectful to do such a thing. "With all due respect, Kate made it my business. She's downright scared the way you just packed her up and took her out of her life like that."

"Katie." Odette's soft tone made the younger girl step back. She didn't want to be comforted or talked out of it. She just wanted to go home. Home was where mom used to be. And it was easier remembering her smell and smile when she was there then it was in a cramped run down RV.

"Now, listen, I know your family for a long time now from church, and I don't want to have to call them up on account of you giving me any kind of trouble out here."

"Go ahead. Call 'em." Kyle challenged.

Odette's head tilted. Again, the newfound confidence and menace was out of place in the literal choir boy.

"Daddy, don't you dare!" Kate objected.

"Now, Kyle, you're a good boy." Jacob tried to talk him into walking away but his patience was wearing thin. He wouldn't lose another daughter to foolhardy hearts. "Don't do anything to betray that."

"You're the traitor, Reverend!" He glowered. "What kind of man up and abandons his congregation?"

All at once the Fuller family let out breaths of air. Some in shock, one in acceptance, and the other a sharp scoff of annoyance.

" _Abandons it_?"

"What's he talking about, dad?"

"He didn't tell you?" Kyle knew exactly what he was doing. That smug smirk telling the older Fullers he enjoyed breaking the news to them. "I talked to my mom. He quit the parish for good."

"You said it was just a break." Katie's face molded into a hard stone of anger. "When were you gonna tell us?"

"Soon as the time was right."

Scott looked to his father for answers. "But why, dad? Why would you quit?"

Jacob didn't know what to say. Odette had warned him they would find out sooner or later but in his head...

Get RV. Get kids in RV. Get to Mexico. Start over.

It had been a simple plan.

But then when does anything ever live up to our expectations...

"Answer him."

"Kate." Odette warned. The trouble of knowing truth, you knew the pain people hid. Their father shouldn't be pushed on this. And Odette knew if Katie knew the truth of that night she wouldn't dare bring it up again. She wouldn't need to. Because, like them, it would then be running through her head all night and day.

"Answer him, or I swear to God, I will get in Kyle's truck, and unlike Ettie, I will _never_ look back."

The threat was all it took to make him come clean. He just had to hope the children would understand the way Ettie did.

"If you're a man of the cloth, be it any cloth, not a day goes by that you don't look in the mirror and wonder, "am I a fraud?"

"What are you talking about, dad?"

"A shepherd can't lead his flock if he's lost the path himself."

Kate, the most faithful and serious of the children looked as if her father had stuck her across the face. "Are you saying that you don't believe anymore?"

Jacob honestly couldn't find the strength to answer. His silence went noted by all.

"I told you. Come on." Kyle grabbed Kate roughly and steered her towards the truck. "Let's go, now!" The slight gasp Kate gave was all it took for the Fullers to converge.

"Hey! Let go of her!" They maybe a god fearing family but damn if they wouldn't protect their own. Like the Lions of the Book of Daniel, they stalked after them, unrelenting in their glares.

"Let go of her, young man!" Jacob grabbed the boy by his other arm in an attempt to make him stop. It triggered a violent outburst from the Winthrop boy. Kyle punch the much older man in the cheek, followed by a sucker punch to the gut, before Ettie pushed them apart and Scott restrained him.

"What are you doing?! What has gotten into you?!" Kate screamed at him as she kneeled over their fallen father. Ettie grabbed Scott and pushed him behind her. The boy wasn't right in the head.

"Don't let him fool you!" Kyle scoffed as if they should thank him.

"He's my dad!" Katie stood up.

Their family was broken.

Flawed, cracked, with missing pieces...

But a family none the less. And Fuller's don't turn their backs on each other. No matter what they've done or who they've wronged.

No one was gonna change that.

"I want you to leave." Katie glared with a renewed fire. When Kyle still wouldn't move she stomped around her sister and pushed him away. "Now!"Ettie pulled her back to a safe distance when the boy's jaw ticked.

"Fine!"

Scott and Katie helped their father to stand as Odette stood guard. At 54 he wasn't at the age to be getting hit like that.

"So long. God save your soul with this murderous whore and your rice-monkey brother."

"No! No!" Jacob managed to hold back Scott from flying at the boy but he couldn't have calmed Odette in time. Her face showed hurt before it twisted into a furious sneer. She lashed out and placed an impressive kick to his lower stomach, crashing him back into the grill of his jeep.

No one could ever say Scott's outbursts were unfamiliar.

The air was effectively knocked out of the Winthrop boy. A sneer staining both his and Odette's faces as he tried to regain breath. "Bunch of freaks." He spit to the ground. Cradling his stomach he glared at them. "You deserve each other."

"Let's go, kids." Jacob pushed the children away from the clearly unstable young man. "Come on, let's go. Ettie!" He called when she remained glaring at Kyle. When he stood before her he saw a darkness in her eyes. Something was happening in that head of hers. "Odette Elizabeth!" He barked at her.

Finally she turned and walked away, Jacob wrapping an arm around her as they both glanced back at him. "Don't you listen to that-"

"Save it." Odette shrugged out of his grip. Storming ahead of even Scott and Kate, the three Fullers looked at her back with remorse and pity.

 _God help that girl._

* * *

 **Please Review :)  
**

 **Bet you didn't expect another chapter this soon. Yeah, me neither, but the surprising amount of interest and reviews for this fic drove me to do it. ;) Please keep it up! Sorry it's a bit of a filler but it sets up the next.  
**


	3. 1x03 ※ Contents Under Pressure

-:BTWD:-

* * *

You were looking for another way out  
Try to fix these broken things  
All we had were fragments  
You were stumbling a new way down  
Falling on your broken wings  
All we had were fragments.

Jaymes Young : Fragments

* * *

 **Bless This Wayward Daughter  
**

 **Mistress  
**

 ** _Contents Under Pressure  
_**

* * *

Scott broke the RV.

That was a lie. Scott didn't break the RV. A worn out radiator hose had broken the RV. But it brought a bit of joy to the girls the way he blushed and fervently corrected them. Of course it would happen to him just as he got to drive.

"Drive" was a very loose description of it in Odette's opinion. He had really only just sat there with his foot on the gas as she and her father tried to make him keep his eyes on the road. Luckily the radiator hose had busted before he had really gotten in an accident. The close call with the van had been enough to steer them clear from the thought Scott should be driving.

So now they waited as their father tried to fix the hose with some help from a do-gooder he had found. Their real luck was that they were close enough to get to the start of the town. If they were still out in the beatniks there was no telling how long they'd have to wait.

Scott looked towards his sister, still curled up in the passenger seat. Since Kyle's outburst, she seemed tired. Kate glanced over her as well. A deep guilt making her feel sickly as she cursed herself for ever telling Kyle.

A sharp banging startled Odette to attention. The muffled cries of "Goddamn it!" send her into a panic. Throwing the blanket off her she pointed at the children to sit back down and stay there.

"What the hell is going on out here?!" Ettie slammed the door closed as she called to her father. Crossing her arms she looked from her father's new friend to him. "Dad?!"

His eyes were narrowed and slightly glazed as he huffed and puffed to catch his breath. Whatever had caused his outburst had done a number on him. Their father had never been one for swearing except for the occasional 'hell' or 'damn'. When he was worked up enough to curse, he was worked up enough to warrant concern. The repeated yells of "Goddamn it" weren't doing anything to reassure the kids that he was okay.

Jacob tightened his burnt hand on the wrench. With some deep breaths he tried to regain his composure. "We're just trying to knock something back into place."

Odette looked at her father, who wouldn't met her curious eyes to his friend, who quickly turned away from them. Now he was lying to her. And not even very well. "It's a hose, you don't knock it back into place."

Her father wiped the sweat from his forehead and readjusted his hat. "Ettie, just...just get back in the car please."

"What's going on?" Kate stuck her head out the door.

"Back!" Ettie shooed her sister back into the RV like a dog. Kate glared at her before complying. She was eighteen, not eight, and she was tired of being kept in the dark like a child.

"It's all right, Ettie. I promise." Jacob wanted nothing more to hide his outburst. He was ashamed he had caused such a fuss.

The older girl's contemplative look turned into one of anger. And when she leaned towards him, Jacob frowned. "Lying to them for the better good is one thing. Lying to me is just stupid." She whispered before taking his advice and returning to the RV. They needed to be in this together, and cutting her out was only gonna hurt whatever peace they had managed to find.

His new friend stepped in to alleviate the sadness that dropped the man's shoulders. "Hey, man, this puppy's gotta cool off for a little while. Why don't we head back inside and cool off ourselves?"

Jacob stared at his reflection in the scratched and dented bumper. At one point it had obviously been roughed up badly enough it needed to be welded back together. If only he could do the same to his family.

When Katie had insinuated he had stopped believing in god, he had told her the truth. Losing Jennifer had been tough on all of them. This trip was meant to bring them together again. To help heal their broken family and do some much needing searching and maybe find a new path.

But no matter how hard Jacob thought on it, he didn't see God in that path. By the very words he preached, it was decided his wife and daughter wouldn't be up there waiting for him when he passed. They were good souls. Troubled, but good nevertheless. The idea he'd worshiped in something that punished them for their weakness and disregarded their grace... it didn't sit well in his mind or in his heart.

"I could use that drink." He dropped the wrench to the hot asphalt, and headed for the bar.

Ettie wasn't the only Fuller plagued by addiction.

* * *

Jacob's new friend, Earl, thanked the bartender when she placed the mugs of beer in front of them.

"You and Shelby have any kids?"

"Well, We're working on it." Earl sipped his cold beer before sighing. "I don't know if I'm ready, to be honest."

"Hang on to her. It's a team sport." Jacob's hand closed around the cold glass and brought it closer. "My oldest, Ettie." Jacob shook his head. "She's trying. Always tried to do right by the world. But she's troubled, ya see. Two or twenty, the girl just managed to have it find her."

"She seems to have the kids under control." Jacob had to put down the mug of beer in fear it would slosh and make a mess. A wheeze like laugh made his full body shake. "Yeah. That's Ettie. Got control of everyone but herself." He covered her eyes with his his hand, wiping away the tears he was so sure would come. The idea of it... Another small chuckle escaped. "Her mama and I prayed everyday, you know. Let her be healthy. Let her be beautiful. Let her be humble and good hearted..." He sighed.

"Seemed to work."

"Sure did." Jacob took a large sip. "Beautiful as her mama, and never a sick day in her life. Well not by any cold. Heroin did a number on her."

Earl nearly spit out his beer. "Jesus." He coughed the drink out of his windpipe.

"Too smart. Too talented. Too beautiful." Jacob's eyes narrowed as if remember a bad memory. "She was a good catch. And that... no good bastard of a boyfriend knew it, too. Snatched her up and ran with her like a.. like a..."

"Bastard?" Earl supplied.

"Goddamn right." He tilted his cup in appreciation. As a man of a cloth, Jacob was bound to forgive all those who begged God's forgiveness. But no matter how much that boy begged, there wasn't a single day Jacob looked at his daughter and didn't wish for the lord to smite him wherever he stood. Maybe that was the first sign he had begun to lose his faith. The ex-reverend raised his glass for another drink, only to find the glass empty.

"Another, sir?" The bartender asked.

Jacob nodded once and handed over the cup. He'd already broken so many of his promises. What was one more?

As he watched the beer fill up to the top and laid in front of him he thought of the temptation that came from picking it up. He thought of his long suffering daughter, and remembered the last time he wanted to drink this badly.

Eight days the Fuller family went through hell looking for Ettie. Her friends, the good and the shady, hadn't seen head or hide of her in months. Night and day they worried, waiting for any sign of life from the run away before the phone rang at 2 in the morning.

Alex had found her more than half dead with a needle in her arm.

At 6'4 and 300 pounds, the Comanche man was a mountain that blocked up any doorway he stood in. As the reverend gave the doctor his gratitude he turned to find him sitting in front of Odette's room, still as could be in the little chair. Seeing her father, he stood out of respect. Jacob rubbed his face, tired from the long drive and the extra knowledge he now carried. She's taken three times what any hardened junkie could handle They said it was an accident, that it happened more often than some might think. Not with his daughter. Not with Ettie. "Don't bullshit me, son. My daughter is, has been, and will be a lot of things but a downright fool ain't one of them..." Alex stood straight, casting a shadow over the reverend. An accidental overdose they said. That wasn't no accident. "She tried to kill herself didn't she." With a silent nod Alex confirmed his worst fears.

It was like a stab to the heart.

He entered her room with such quiet grace, careful not to disturb her even though his knees were knocking together and felt they would give out on him at any minute.

"Ettie."

Her eyes shifted under their lids, straining to wake up under the heavy sedation. "Baby." His voice broke. "Why?"

"I'll take her to rehab in the morning."

"I don't think that can help her." Jacob whispered. All her life there was something in her that sought out trouble. Be it boys or drugs or bad choices. She had made her bed. Now she had to lie in it. "I don't think anything can help."

"Not even your god?"

"God doesn't give us the victory. God gives us the strength to keep fighting for it. Truth is, I don't think he has anything left to give her."

"You shouldn't give up on her."

The reverend looked up at the mountain of a man. His brown eyes trained on his daughter. Alex had always looked at her like she was the moon and stars. He always saw something in her, something different than the rest of them. Jacob looked at his baby girl, thought she laid still, her arms and legs were folded and twisted. She'd always been and always will be restless. Both in body and spirit. Nothing seemed to change that. "I haven't given up on her. Just given up on trying to change her."

Odette remembered the day well. And even though he claimed to still have faith in her, she always got the sense he was waiting for her to fail again. Preparing for the worst when, not if, it came.

Shifting in the seat she let her head fall back against the window. She closed her eyes and listened to the music flowing from her headphones. Everything is just temporary, she reminded herself. This restlessness will pass. This craving will fade. As Alex used to tell her, she just had to hold out till then.

* * *

Behind her, Scott and Kate also found themselves unable to be distracted from their own pestering thoughts.

Flipping the page of the comic Ettie had bought him, Scott glared up at Kate. It was a horrible thing, bringing Kyle into family business like that. "Why do you got to be such a b-yotch?"

Kate seemed hurt by the accusation but admitted it was deserved after the day they'd had. Just because she was being bitchy didn't mean she wasn't right. "I don't know. Maybe because he's going against everything he's ever believed his entire life?"

"And why do you keep asking dad about the accident? What do you care?! Sometimes you sound like you think it's his fault."

"I never said that, Scott! Scott pointedly looked back to their sister, still asleep in the front. Kate brushed her hair from her face, the familiar trait drawing Scott's attention. "Okay, I'm sorry! I don't know how to do this."

"Do what?"

Sitting across from him Kate lowered her voice. "Dad is losing it." No matter how hard her and Ettie tried to look like everything was fine, Kate most definitely knew something was very wrong. "He's not in a good place right now. But we never had to worry about that kind of stuff because mom always knew how to take care of him and us. I can't take her place. I don't know how to be mom."

"Then don't try to be. Ettie's gonna take care of him. She always takes care of it."

Kate rolled her eyes. Scott was always so blinded by their sister. Hero worship or something. Of all the people he could look up too, their sister should not be one of them. "When she's here! What happens in a few months when she relapses again and takes off?"

"She's not gonna leave again, she promised!"

"She promised after the funeral, too. Remember?!" Scott didn't like what Kate was saying but it was a hard truth he needed to learn. "And then three months later she was back to doing drugs."

"She got help this time, _real_ help!"

"Don't let the comic books and happy smile steer you wrong, Scott. Ettie's always been Ettie...she's never gonna change."

Scott stood up and pushed Katie out of his way. He didn't want to hear anymore.

In the front passenger seat, Odette wiped a tear from her eyes. They obviously hadn't been prepared for her to hear them. Startling Kate, she got up and walked past. The younger girl called out for her with a weak voice, putting together the fact she had stuck her foot in it when her sister held up her hand and slammed the door closed.

It was time to get this family moving before they broke under the pressure.

* * *

"Ettie!" Jacob drunkenly cheered at the sight of his daughter. Odette hesitated as she approached.

What. The. Hell.

Momentarily changing her attention from him to his friend, she requested they be given a moment alone. Earl seemed like he had been caught by his mother with his hand in the cookie jar. Without a word he grabbed his beer and moved down a few seats. He had a wife. He knew the look of an tested woman when he saw one.

And lord, was Ettie being tested right now. "Dad, what are you doing?"

"Drinking."

"Yeah, yeah I see that, Daddy. But it's four in the afternoon."

Jacob matched her knowing tone. "I know that Odette."

"Well then how about you put that drink down and come out with me. You can sleep it off in the back." She tried to grab the nearly empty mug from his hand when he slid it out of her grip.

He sighed, sorrowful and deep. "I'm tired Ettie." When her father refused to look up from the wood bar top, she hesitantly took a seat next to him. He obviously wasn't ready to leave just yet. "I'm...I can't do this without your mother. I can't do it alone."

"You're not alone." Even if Kate didn't believe it, Ettie meant it. She was here to stay. "You have me." She tried to smile but it was soured by the sadness in her heart.

When he just fiddled with his mug she looked to the crowd. Silence fell as they both entered their own worlds.

"I don't know how to talk to them. Your mother always handled those thing with those two."

"Oh that's not true dad." She remember her mother losing patience with her as a child. Sending her father after her when she refused to listen to reason. Come to think of it, Ettie didn't remember talking to her all the much. Yelling, yes. Ignoring, even more. But talking like two civilized women?... She drew a blank. Luckily her father was there to talk some sense into her. Always the calmer of the pair, he knew how to talk Ettie down from her room and keep the peace in their household. "You know to talk to them. You did great with me remember?"

Jacob scoffed into last of his drink. "Eh, look how you turned out." Whatever pain Kate's words had caused were nothing compared to the nonchalance in which he disregarded her. Looking at her father she begged for him to take it back. "Had two of us back then. Tried our best with you and you still turned out..." Jacob waved his hand before dropping it to the bar top, looking for the waitress. When he noticed her stare he looked at her blankly. "What?" He hiccuped. Why'd she look like she was about to cry? "What'd I say?"

"Nothing I didn't already know." She tried to laugh it off as the tears kept fighting. She flicked a stray one away with her finger. "You.. you finish that drink and then meet us out front." She didn't wait for a response, not that she really expected one.

She just needed out of the dark bar.

She felt like she couldn't breath.

She couldn't go back to the RV in the state she was in so she detoured to the alleyway out of sight. Her back hit the brick wall as it finally took hold. Covering her face with her hands, her knees gave out and she fell into a squat.

After a small melt down she collected herself. If there was ever one thing she and her mother had in common it was the ability to lose their minds and have no one the wiser.

Collecting herself, she wiped away the tears and running make up and sniffed up her runny nose.

Shake it off. He didn't mean it, she recited in her head while she begged her chest to stop aching.

Her father hadn't had more than the occasional glass of wine in more than twenty years. Now he sat drunk in a bar at four in the afternoon.

Their family was falling apart. And Odette didn't have any clue how much long she could keep it together.

Fuck. She could barely keep herself together.

As she was so clearly reminded by the itch under her veins. The scars stared up with her with a dark mocking. Almost egging her on to add to them.

Goddamn it, indeed.

* * *

Fifteen minutes was all it took for the younger pair to become worried. They're search didn't take long. Seconds really, as Kate opened the door to find Ettie sitting on ground outside of it. Her older sister's attention was fixed on something she couldn't see. A spot on the old brick building that had hypnotized her. Her knees were raised to her chest, her left arm stretched forward as the fingertips of her right hand hand rubbed up and down the inside of it. Counting scars. Counting bricks. Counting anything to keep her mind off the cold chill of a craving.

When she heard Kate close the door behind her, she stopped rubbing for a moment before continuing at a slower pace. She really wasn't in the mood for this shit.

"Is dad coming?"

"Not yet."

"Why not."

"He's a having a drink with a friend. Leave him be." She didn't want Kate to see him drunk. God only knew what else would spill out of his unfiltered mouth.

Debating between going back inside with a brother who was mad at her,or a sister who didn't seem to be particularly found of her. Her sister, and more importantly the fresh air, won out. Sitting on the little steps, Kate looked down at her sister.

It was funny to think about, but once upon a time Katie would give for nothing more than to be just like her big sister. Six years older than her, Odette always seemed perfect in the eyes of her family and everyone else. But to Katie...she was like the second coming. She had the pretty name. She had friends. She had talent. She knew boys. Boys who liked her. And she was the apple of mom and dad's eyes.

Maybe that was the issue. The world could only ever handle one Odette Fuller.

And when Katie would try to act like her, she never managed to live up. She couldn't sing like Ettie. She couldn't fence like Ettie. She didn't know how to talk to boys like Ettie. And at twelve years old, Kate would wish and pray that one day she would be the star of the family.

Had she'd of known God would listen, she wouldn't have done it. She loved her sister dearly. And when mama and daddy told them she wasn't coming home it was like everything seemed wrong in the world. And then they focused on Scott, just like Ettie had. They were closer. He missed her more. They had to be more careful when mentioning her around him because he got upset and threw those horrible tantrums.

She wasn't to scream and cry too! But no. She had to be the big girl now.

Kate was flat out lying to her family and herself if she didn't admit she felt bitterness towards her. Now her sister sat beside her, low in station and spirits, literally and figuratively, and Kate wanted this dark feeling inside her to go away. She didn't want to be angry. She just didn't know how not to be anymore. Not when it came to her sister.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

Kate played with the sleeves of her sweater. "Telling Kyle about-" Kate couldn't say it. "I-I was just so mad."

Ettie scoffed and continued to rub her arm. It drew Kate's eyes to the scars. Ettie looked away and to her otherwise, glaring at the sun and searching for another sign of life as she finally stopped rubbing her arm. "I don't blame you, kiddo." She used the fold away stairs as leverage, getting up before dusting herself off. The fact she wouldn't look at her made Kate want to throw something. "I hate me, too." She kissed the girl's hair like she did when she was a child before going back into the RV. "Come inside and pay some card with me and Scott." Kate's brows furrowed as the door closed behind her. She didn't want to play card. She wanted to go home. And if she couldn't go home she damn well didn't want to stay here. Getting up, she ignored her sister's advice and marched into the bar.

Inside the RV, Ettie pulled on the her plaid shirt over the blue tank top and rolled down the sleeves. She wanted the scars covered for now. Even though Alex told her to embrace them as a reminder of her fight, right now it was just reminding her how much easier the world seemed with a couple grams of heroin pumping through her.

Buttoning up the middle button she happened to glance up through the window in time to see Kate marching towards the bar. Neither Kate nor Scott had ever seen her father drunk. And now really wasn't the time to either. "Damn it. Stay!" She ordered Scott as she ran out the door. The younger boy threw the box of card on the table and crossed his arms. He was really tired of being told to sit and stay. His name was Scott not Spot. But just because he had to stay didn't mean he couldn't watch. Peaking through the window he watch his sister race towards the entrance. Kate was tempted to stick out her tongue as she watched the door close behind her. Ettie's quick walk turning into a jog at the sight.

"Daddy?"

"Katie-kakes! Where'd your sister go?" Kate stared at him like an Alien, looking at the beer in his hand like she'd never seen one before. Jacob picked up on her confusion and tried to explain. "W-We were letting the engine cool down."

"You've been in here for an hour, Daddy. Come on." Like Odette, Kate tried to steer her father out of the bar. He wouldn't have it.

Instead, he grabbed Katie and stoked her face. "This this is my little girl." He introduced Earl. "She's always looking for the family toolbox."

Kate wasn't handling their drunk father nearly as well as Jacob's oldest had. Earl picked up on the discomfort and polity smiled and stretched out his hand to shake. "How you doing?"

"Trying to find ways to fix her old man."

"Katie!" Ettie grabbed Kate by the shoulders and pulled her out of their father's grasp. "Go back to the RV. Go on. We'll catch up." She assured her. Kate didn't even argue this time, too shaken by the foreign sight.

Had she been in her right mind she wouldn't have nearly collided with the man in her path. "Well, aren't you a little young to be hanging out in here?" He eyed her up and down. The commotion caught Ettie's hawk like attention. Kate scoffed and crossed her arms. Creeped out by his stare she moved a bit quicker out of the bar. "You're a little pistol, aren't you?" He commented after her.

"Hey! Back off!" Ettie yelled at the stranger. The older blonde man raised his hands in defense and carried on back to his table. When Katie was out of the bar, Odette lost her temper. Turning to her father she grabbed his beer and walked it over to the bartenders sink, throwing it down the drain against her father and Earl's objections. "I am not mom, I sure as hell not _your_ mom but Jacob Fuller, _father or not_ , if you're gonna act a fool I'll down right treat you like one." She pointed at him. Jacob looked at her like a lost puppy. "Now get out there now or I'll fix it myself and leave you here."

"That's no way to talk to your father, Missy."

"Earl, is it?" Ettie glared at him. The sudden years it put on her face changed Earl's view of her.

"U-Yes ma'am."

"Shut up, Earl."

Earl listened.

"Fullers don't leave Fullers." Jacobs reminded her.

"Fullers don't drink before seven either." She pulled out her wallet and laid down three twenties. "Looks like we're all making changes." Pointing to the bartender she ordered her not to give him anymore, adding an extra twenty to make sure. The bartender looked from the young woman to her father before nodding and taking the cash.

Storming out of the bar, Ettie called for Kate to get out of the luggage compartment and back in the RV.

It was a dark day when Odette Fuller had to be the responsible one.

* * *

 **Please Review :) It does wonders for my motivation and since I recently quit my job I could use it.**

 **In case you couldn't tell, Kate wants nothing more than Ettie's attention. She never really got it as a kid, so she's searching for it now. I'm sorry if Kat's come off bitchy these past few chapter, I'm not bashing her character, I'm just setting up the dynamic between her and Ettie for the rest of the story. I'll be doing my first Seth focus scene next chapter so I apologize in advance for it's iffy quality. On the upside: action, Seth, and Richie! Thanks Sarcastic-Enigma for being amazing as always and the rest of you who have alerted, favored, and reviewed. :)  
**


	4. 1x04 ※ Bad Timing, Kid

**※ Edited 2.5.18** ** **※****

* * *

Run in an alleyway  
Through a dead end street  
Murdering promises  
That I just can't keep  
We could sing pretty melodies  
On the unmade bed  
Slow-dancing to a silhouette  
'Cause I ain't dead yet?

Barns Courtney : Hellfire

* * *

 **Bless This Wayward Daughter  
**

 **Let's Get Ramblin'**

 _ **Bad Timing, Kid  
**_

* * *

It was six months ago her father told his oldest to keep the kids in bed as he rushed their mother to the hospital. A horrible migraine, he said. Nothing to worry about, he said. They'd be back before the kids woke up, he said.

It was more of a promise, really. The first of many he'd break in the months to follow.

Ettie gripped the steering wheel with unnecessary force.

Out of everything, she figured his sobriety would be the one promise he kept. After his faith, of course. Turns out that, too, would crumble.

Her knuckles went almost white as she kept herself from glancing in the rear-view mirror as she drove down the desolate highway. Seeing her father's passed out form would only elongate her anger. She wanted her family to have trust in her again. She really should have been careful what she wished for. Unable to stop, her eyes narrowed as they looked to her father's passed out form.

The high chirping of a new text message shook Odette from her thoughts. Her grip relaxed and her eyes blinked away the clear memory.

"That better not be Kyle." Scott huffed at Kate.

Kate looked back at her brother with a glare that could cut barbed wire. "Shut your trap!"

"Stop it!" The two teens looked at her with surprise. Since leaving the town, Ettie had seemed like a coiled snake, ready to strike at any minute as she clutched the steering wheel like she was trying to strangle it.

Kate's attention retruned to her phone and began a search for nearby lodgings. "We're gonna stop the first place we see."

"We're gonna do _what_?" Scott scoffed.

"Daddy is _drunk_." The words seemed to fall off the younger girl's tongue angry and uneasily, his unconscious state one she'd never had to see before.

"I'm aware." Odette laughed bitterly. Her sister was shaken from the encounter, she was sure, but she had nothing on the fury Odette was feeling at that moment.

"He needs to sleep it off in an honest-to-goodness bed."

"Let him sleep right there." Scott looked back at their father. He was sprawled out on the couch, snoring like a bear. He seemed just fine to him. "You should keep driving to Mexico," he encouraged the elder.

"I plan on it."

"If anything, you should drive back to Bethel!" Kate nearly hurt her eyes with how hard she rolled them. "But I know you won't do that. So instead, we're gonna stop at a hotel."

Ettie's brows almost furrowed into a single line. "I'm sorry, did I miss something?" She glanced at the younger girl typing away on her phone. "Since when do you call all the shots?"

"Since now."

"Oh yeah, let the eighteen year old who was seconds from running off with her boyfriend call the shots." Ettie couldn't help a scoff-like laugh.

"At least mine wasn't a junkie."

"No, just a abusive, racist _asshole_." Ettie's knuckles went white as her gritted her teeth in a smile. Her patience was hair thin at the moment but she wouldn't give Kate the satisfaction of beating her down, intentionally or not.

"Really, we're gonna pretend _I'm_ the family screw-up?" Kate narrowed her eyes and watched as Odette's snarl for a smile fell into a tight frown.

Scott mumbled her name in warning and stuck at her shoulder. It was a tad harsh; something she knew her father would have whooped her for if he had heard her, but she was just so sick of them treating her like she was the baby of the family. As always, Scott went straight to Ettie's defense, never to hers.

"No!" She pushed her brother's hand away. "At least I was smart enough to come back!" Kate raised her voice. Scott didn't know which sister to watch. The one about to break the steering wheel or the one growing red faced. "Did you even for a moment think: hmm, maybe this isn't the best idea!" Ettie remained watching the road, breathing in and out in deep breaths. Scott warned his sister once more. Ettie's silence was taken as confirmation. The younger Fuller's eyes burned as she venomously laughed. "No, because all you think about is yourself!"

Odette's face was shocked into a neutral expression before furrowing into a dark scowl. Pulling over recklessly onto to the side of the road, she turned in her seat and leaned closer to her sister. Kate backed away slightly at the sudden invasion of space. Both teens shaken by the jarring movement and sudden stop of the vehicle.

"You know what, Katie? Enough." Ettie whispered, a coldness in her eyes as she raised her voice for Scott to hear. "No more passive aggressive _bullshit_." The word made Kate flinch. "Life sucks, people fuck up, get over it."

Kate stared at the floor. Scott looked anywhere but at his sisters. Ettie wasn't done. "Like it or not, we are a fucking family, a nice normal fucked-up American family. Just like we always wanted." She was sourly gleeful as the took a quick glace at both of them. "And from now on, we will act like it!" She turned to her brother, as well, who quickly took a defensive position in case she lunged at him next. "Understood?!" she yelled at both of them.

Scott didn't even hesitate when she pivoted those furious eyes on him. "Yes." Together they peered at Kate with such intensity she couldn't ignore it if she tried. A quiet, barely audible 'yes' came from her turned head as well.

"Great!" Ettie slapped the steering wheel with exuberance before reaching over to snatch the phone out of Kate's lap. At this point she didn't care about their drunken father, she just needed a few hours away from her family before she self detonated. She looked over the nearest hotel options before deciding on what that _wasn't_ rented by the hour.

"There." She tossed the device back in Kate's lap. Looking up and down the empty desert road she put the RV back in drive. "The closest place is something called the Dew Drop Inn. Sounds cute."

* * *

Half an hour later, Scott wasted no time calling "dibs" on the bed as soon as Odette stepped back into the RV. Kate having taken over the driver's seat, she settled into the passenger seat.

"I am _not_ sleeping with dad!" Kate yelled in her ear. "I'm too old for that!"

"Both of you, shut up." She handed a key-card to each of them, tossing her wallet and information packet back into her purse. "I got us two queens. If you really want it, there's a couch, too. Have fun fighting it out."Ettie flinched at her mistake the moment their overlapping voices began. It was as if she's fired the racing gun; the two teens not wasting a moment before they began talking over one another to plead their case.

Distracted by the fighting she was now trying to stop, Odette didn't see the man come in from her peripheral vision before it was nearly too late. As soon as the RV has started, it stopped. She yelled for Katie to brake as she clotheslined Scott's chest to keep him from tumbling head first into the dashboard.

The sharp screams from the sisters and sudden stop had finally woken their father from his drunken slumber. "What in the world?!" He was immediately up and trying to find out the source of their panic, swaying on his feet before finally falling back onto the couch.

The suited man showed no sign of moving as he looked over the occupant. When he still didn't move Odette's eyes narrowed, her brows furrowing in slight confusion as he turned to her. He lifted his beer to his lips but hesitated, as if pondering something before taking a drink as his dark eyes settled on her with piqued interest. Leaning slightly forward, her gaze softened, an odd sensation humming around her. _Did she know him?_

"Ettie?" Her father called again in worry. The call snapped her attention, the feeling gone as she looked back to assure him.

"It's just a drunk, dad." From the slowed movement, slightly rumpled suit, and five o'clock shadow she assumed him just another item to add to her list of problems this day.

The younger siblings returned his gaze, watching till he'd cleared the narrow drive before Katie slowly rolled into the back parking lot. Scott rubbed his chest where he'd collided with Ettie's elbow, an annoyed glare directed to the back window of the RV. "What's _his_ problem?"

"I don't know." Ettie dismissed, her tone soft and thoughtful as she looked at him from the sideview mirror, watching as his face lifted in a sly grin as they left. When she settled back in her seat she found herself under the watchful gaze of her brother and sister. "What?"

* * *

This was not how his day was meant to go.

Seth Gecko wouldn't even know where to start his long list of problems, but he knew every one of them today had stemmed from his brother in one way or another.

Unlike Richie, Seth was a man who believed the one rule to successfully robbing a bank was easy. Make a plan and stick to it. Because when you deviate from the plan the entire plan will go to shit and his life usually with it. His current predicament was proof of that.

Though the bank job was nowhere near simple, it should never had turned into the shit show it had. Richard had been sidetracked all morning, going on about his god damn horchata and his broadened views. He'd cold-cocked the one guy they needed and gotten messy with the backdoor. It was shoddy, sloppy work.

Guys like them were always talking about getting out, getting rich, growing old in paradise and dying in the arms of a beautiful woman. They'd talk about it all the time. Before a heist, after a heist, in between heists. But no one ever seemed to get there. Now, affter the shoot out at the bank and the goddamn mess at the liquor store, Seth was beginning to think they never would.

And then there was the bank teller. Seth's stomach dropped at the thought of what awaited him in their hotel room. He'd left Richard alone for half an hour. Half an hour for him to go from being just dandy to him… Seth flinched not wanting to bring that image back.

He said something was happening, something he couldn't yet explain, a force, a presence, a sixth fucking sense that came from nowhere that told him what to do.

 _Oh, there was something going on alright..._ His brother was losing his freakin' mind. Richard claimed he could see inside her. Her eyes, he claimed. "Eyes find eyes." He quoted their uncle Eddie, going on about some old Indian saying their uncle taught him about energy and shit. He could see _inside_ her and knew she wanted to hurt them. That's why he had to kill her first. _Kill,_ Seth could understand. But what he did to her after...

Seth could only stare back until he announced he was leaving. Between Richie's continual breakdown, Carlos's lack of help, and the nation wide manhunt, he was fucked six ways till Sunday. He needed time away from his brother and the mess he'd created for them. He needed time to think.

 _He needed a fucking drink._

Even if he managed to find a way to keep Richie from losing it before they got to the border, there was still that little problem of every ticket taker on the Rio Grande holding copies of his mug shot. He felt like a trapped rat on a drowning ship. They needed a way out, and they needed it _now_.

Yes, Seth had a long list of problems.

But for the first time that day, he was about to find some answers. And they came neatly packed in a big beige solution.

A beer in his hand, and a burden on his mind, he thought little of the giant beige RV parked in front of the hotel, too preoccupied with a more urgent train of thought. Bbut when the massive bastard nearly mowed him down as he was crossing the drive through, it demanded his attention. Seth prepared to give the driver a piece of his mind. He expected a portly greying man on the road with his equally portly wife and their twenty yapping dogs. Instead he got a surprise when he was met with quite the opposite.

The driver herself was young. All pale skin and doe eyed, her small frame looked like she barely had control over the large steering wheel she clutched in surprise. He doubted with a gun pointed at her she'd be much trouble. Beside her was an Asian kid that brought to mind Bruce Lee, still skrawny under those baggy clothes.

It was the other girl in the passenger seat that really caught his attention. Slightly older than the others, she was just as pretty as the younger girl, a similar bone structure proving they were somehow related though her hair darker and her skin tanner.

It was when brown eyes met hazel that Seth really paused, stopping the bottle just short of his lips. His annoyed face softened into one of interest as he stared at her. A spark of genius suddenly ignited. And the crook could nearly hear the fucking light bulb click on over his head. His thoughts began to race as he finished the last of his beer.

The way she had put forth her arm to protect the boy from going head first into the dashboard made it easy to pin her as the mothering type. Her first instinct was to protect the little ones. Types like her were easy to control with a gun pointed at the kids heads. A nice looking family that would breeze right through the broader in an RV tat had plenty of space to stay out of sight.

It was all coming together.

Their shared gaze was broken when she looked away, addressing someone in the back. Seth mozied out of their way. And when they pulled left into the parking area, his face broke into a smile at the sight of a colorful bumper sticker. 'God Bless You' The words beckoned as they passed.

Finishing the last swig of his beer, Seth couldn't help but break a triumphant grin. "God bless, indeed..."

* * *

It seemed she wasn't the only Fuller at the boiling point. After her father's violent outburst towards Scott for a teasing comment, she was reminded why Jacob stopped drinking. He'd never raise a hand to his family but when she was much younger Odette remembered plenty of fist sized holes is the plaster. She told him to sleep it off as she grabbed her bag and headed for the Walgreen's across the street. Time alone is what she craved but after that frightening twenty seconds of uncertainty, she offered Scott to come along. The younger boy refused and seemed fine tuning his guitar and practicing while Kate went down to the pool.

The snacks and aspirin laid in her basket, but Odette wasn't quite ready to go back just yet. So she loitered around the Walgreen's beauty section looking at nail colors, throwing in a color she liked every now and then as she stalled for time. She loved her family, but sometimes she wondered why she ever came back.

After her month in rehab, she had gone to Alex's as she always had when she needed a place to crash. He had welcomed her in with a warm embrace and before she even sat down started pulling left overs from the fridge. Everything was fine until he sat across from her, watching as she dug into the bison and fried corn. His sister must have been by recently, since Alex wasn't much of a cook. Hunting was his forte, but cooking was just something he never seemed to get a handle on. With a calm baritone voice he dropped a heavy truth. "You can't stay here." It made Ettie nearly choke. Alex kept his calm smiling expression as he handed her her coke, no malice or ill will in his face or tone.

"What?" She stared up at him. She hadn't even asked him yet, though it was usually a given. "You get a girlfriend while I was gone?" She joked. Alex never had girlfriends, not as long as she'd known him.

"You can't stay here, Odette." He didn't so much as blink at the joke. "It's time to go home."

"Home..." Odette looked at her plate, pushing it away as she lost her appetite. "You say it like I still have one."

"Then make one." He shrugged. He knew Odette would be taken back. She was too loved not to be. But she was also stubborn and at times unpredictable. He wouldn't put it past her to not even try, going on with her life without a second glance back. She'd tried it once before...

Odette played with her food as she tried to find the strength to speak. She couldn't even look at him. "They don't want me, Alex."

"Whether they _want_ you is unimportant." His hand rested over hers, swallowing it in his large grasp as he sat across from her. "They _need_ you. And that all that matters."

" _Need me_?" Odette laughed, a shallow and mocking sound. "Me?!" Her voice broke, eyes burning with self loathing. "The fuck-up who can't keep a needle out of her arm for more than a few months?" _No matter how hard she tried,_ she thought bitterly _. It was never enough..._

"You're stronger than you think." There was a calm certainty to her voice. Enough to make her think, for a moment, it was true. "Now eat, shower, and get dressed." Alex stood up and straightened to his full height. Ettie craned her neck back to look up at him. He always had too much faith in her.

"Maybe I don't wanna go home..."

Alex smirked before turning back, grabbing his hunting knife from the end of the table. Admiring the sharp blade he had just finished sharpening, he spun it in his hand in thought. "Then think of it as going to war."

" _War_ " may have been a bit of a stretch at the time, but Odette had to admit: these past months felt like she'd fought one battle after another.

"Will that be all miss?" The checkout girl rung up the last of her items.

Ettie's attention was brought back to the present. "Actually, do you have any sour gummy worms?"

The cashier could see the hopefulness in her eyes and could only slightly cringe when she broke the news. "Only sugar-free, ma'am."

Odette closed her eyes to keep them from rolling. _Of course._ Putting on a happy face, she told her that would be fine. Leave it to Scott to forget the one thing she asked him to find.

* * *

The sharp knocking on the door woke Jacob from his light nap. With a quick look at the clock, his brows furrowed. "Ettie forget her key?" Jacob didn't think to look out the peephole before he opened the door. His daughter may have been tall, but not as tall as their guest.

The man stared at him with slightly narrowed eyes behind his glasses. "You know, we're actually in the room just below you. Do you think you could keep the noise level down a little bit?"

Sleep and beer may have slowed Jacob's mind but even he registered the request was odd. Scott hadn't even plugged in his guitar yet. His own eyes narrowed in confusion as he leaned forward, wondering if he'd misheard. "What's that, now?"

The man with glasses pivoted, opening up the door frame he took up as he reached for something behind his back. Jacob was stunned by a sudden fist connecting with his face. The blow hard enough to send him stumbling back onto the bed. Scott rose when the two men walked into the room, the taller of the two pointing a gun directly at his head. His shorter partner stood over their father, "The man said shut your mouth."

* * *

Seth stood before their two new hostages as Richie brought in their bags. The first was older man in his fifties or sixties, thin but graying; much more what he had in mind for the driver of the vehicle. The second, much younger, an Asian teenager. Sitting together at the end of the bed, they looked an odd pair, and Seth couldn't help but ask, "So, what's with the Asian kid? Trick-or-treat for UNICEF?"

"He's my son."

"Really?" Seth's brows rose. "Well, where's mom?" Seth looked around the room in expectation.

"It's just me and the boy."

Seth cracked a bit of a grin at the attempt, endearing as it was, before going serious. "What about those girls?" Seth watched as the old man tried to think of a response, some excuse to keep them out of it. But as Richie called for his brothers attention, showing the bra that'd been left in the bathroom, they all knew the jig was up. Still, he wondered just how far he'd try to take the lie. "You two like to play dress-up?" Seth challenged.

Jacob seemed to realize they were just as transparent as thought. He looked to floor, ashamed and fearful of what would happen now that they had been caught lying. "No, we do not."

"Where are they?" Seth asked again.

"They went for a grocery run for the motor home. They won't be back for hours."

"He's lying," Richie immediately accused.

Seth challenge them just as quickly and ordered, "Call them." When Jacob hesitated, he waved his gun at Scott's head in a hurry up manner.

Jacob felt like his heart was gonna beat out of his chest the longer the line rang, but when it went to voicemail he suddenly felt he could breath. "She's not answering," he answered honestly.

"One of them put this on before they left." Richie sniffed the coconut scented tanning lotion as he came from the bathroom.

Seth's agitation visibly rose. "Probably at the pool." He stared at the old man who wouldn't meet his eyes. "I'll go get her." But as he neared the door he stopped, the memory of coming back to the hotel room and finding what Richie did to their previous hostage when left alone seared into his brain. "Actually...you go get her, Richie." He wasn't sure he could be left alone with the two men without bloodshed or mutilation. "You spent enough time in hotels today." Richie seemed to catch onto the subtle dig just as quickly as it was put, and with nearly rolled eyes he tried to do as he was told before Seth grabbed him by the arm. "Hey. I need you to just go find her, and you bring her back here, okay? Don't _talk_ to her. Don't _touch_ her." Jacob's attention snapped to the shorter of the men, his voice almost threatening in his last directions. A new fear grew, and Seth could see it when he glanced at him. "Let's get on the clock. Ten on the timex," Seth instructed.

"I've got this under control," Richie promised as he left.

Seth watched him leave with studious eyes. Considering Richard's idea of control was rather macabre lately, the reassurance was not very reassuring. For the first time in many to come, Jacob and Seth were equally uneasy.

And he had good reason to be. Fourteen minutes later Seth sighed under his breath after sending away a suspicious maid that had luckily chalked it up to the usual cheap honeymooners. _If only_ , Seth thought. This was taking too long. "Come on, Richie." He cursed, wondering if he'd gotten picked up or cornered somewhere.

It was heating the name that sparked his memory. Jacob could finally place why they seemed familiar. f anything, it was even more distressing."The infamous Gecko brothers." He stood from the bed.

"I didn't say you could get up," Seth warned.

"I heard about you on the radio. I switched the channel so it wouldn't scare my kids."

"You did the right thing." Seth motioned towards the bed with his gun. "Now sit." His patience was running very thin.

"Radio said you robbed a bank up in Abilene. You're moving south. Means you're going to Mexico. That's what you need us for, isn't it? You're gonna use us to cross. We're your cover," Jacob figured it out.

Seth almost smiled. "You're a smart man. You ever do any acting?" He walked closer.

"Acting?"

"Yeah. Drama club, high school." Seth's brows jumped in challenge. "Nothing like that?"

"Once. A long time ago." Jacob was confused by the line of questioning.

"Well, who'd you play?"

"Joseph."

"Joseph who?"

"Joseph, son of Jacob."

"Interesting guy?"

Jacob's brows furrowed further. "He could see the future."

"Sounds handy." Seth nodded. "Now, did they teach you anything about acting?"

"Uh, what's the point?"

"You see, in my line, you're always a performer. You understand? Now, I like actors. I study them. Pacino, McQueen, Brando. They got a way of looking believable." Seth suddenly held up the gun, clicking the safety off as it was aimed. "You believe me?"

Jacob didn't dare move, nor speak, as he stared Seth in the eyes.

Seth continued. "Now, the first rule of good acting is to listen to what the other actors are saying. Are you listening to me? I'm gonna need you to brush up on your drama skills. Because you're gonna have to get better, _a lot better_ , and fast. We're all booked for a one-time-only performance of "you do whatever the hell I say." I'm the lead, you and your little adopted boy here are supporting. Now, if you kill it..." Seth paused, a suffocatingly tense silence filling the room before he clicked the safety back on and redirected the gun. "We're all gonna get Tonys. Now, you want a Tony, don't you?" he asked Scott.

"Your plan won't work," Jacob objected. "I won't let you take my children."

"Well, it's not gonna work with one creepy old dude." Seth nearly scoffed. "So guess what? We're bringing the whole clan." He waved the gun around in a gather up motion. "So sit down." He ordered one final time before returning to the window. When he still didn't see any movement outside he looked at his watch.

"You told him not to touch my daughter."

"What?" Seth was distracted, the seconds ticking by on his clock seeming to fuel the usually collected man's annoyance.

"Your brother," Jacob clarified. "Why did you tell him not to touch my daughter?"

Seth looked to the floor, seeing the eyeless body of their last hostage lying on the bed when he blinked. "Your daughter's gonna be fine," he reassured.

"He harms her, I'll kill you with my bare hands."

Seth rounded, pressing the gun to the boy's temple. "You're gonna kill him with your big mouth first. What's your name, again?" he asked the kid.

"Scott."

"Scott, do me a favor. Tell your dad to sit down and shut up," he ordered.

"Dad…" Scott looked to his father, the first time since the funeral he's seen him look so weak and helpless. "Sit down," he nearly begged. Jacob didn't hesitate to take a seat.

"Getting better already." Seth removed the gun. But before he could return to his watch-post a key sounded in the door. Seth clocked the barrel and motioned for them to be silent. Jacob held his breath as the door slowly began to open.

Ettie expected to find Scott sulking in the corner with his guitar, her father probably passed out or retching over the toilet, or the both of them digging into a pizza Scott would probably petition for. What she did not expect was to see them both sitting in the silence at the edge of the bed, fear on both their faces as she stepped into the room. "What?" she asked closing the door. Scott's gaze flew to the left of her and, through her peripheral vision, she saw the figure that couldn't have been Kate.

It was not the first time, nor probably the last, a gun has been pointed at her head. The black blurry shadow taking a defining shape as it was raised to the side of her head as the door closed. She ducked low out of the path of the muzzle, and used his own confusion to crash the bottom of her palm with his nose. A similar move to the one he'd used on her father just minutes before. Jacob and Scott stood at the altercation, frightened but hopeful at the advantage she momentarily had when their captor was forced back into the wall.

Their hope was short lived.

As painful and effective as it might have been to anyone else, Seth had taken worse hits in his life. Hell, in the past week. The convict escapee quicker and grabbed her by her shirt. There was no hesitance in his violence this time. He threw her into the door, knocking the wind out of her and electing a muffled cry of pain when her head hit the thick wood. When her brother jumped to defend her, Seth pointed the gun to her head once more. " _Nuh-uh_! Sit!" he ordered.

Scott wouldn't risk his sister life. He held up his hands like his father did and sat back on the bed.

Releasing her shirt, Seth felt the bridge of his nose and sniffed deeply. No sign of a break. Wiping the underside of it, he glanced down at his bloodless fingers before eyeing the woman. She was prettier up close, her a hair a bit messy and her hazel eyes alight with rage. "You know, usually I like a girl with a bit of moxie but today is not a day you wanna fuck with me, Princess." His joking tone thinly veiled the seriousness of it.

Ettie swallowed, her eyes were narrowed in both pain and fury as she glared up at the man with a curious hatred unmatched. He wasn't the first guy to hold a gun on her but he was probably the most sober. "Who the fuck are _you_?" Her searching gaze darted over his face. The epitome of tall, dark, and handsome, she had immediately recognized him as the asshole who'd nearly given Kate a heart attack. Now up close, there was a different familiarity to him.

"Ettie," Jacob warned, in both scolding of her language and fear of what the armed man would do at her tone.

"Who the fuck am I?" Seth had the nerve to smile. "I'm Seth Gecko, motherfucker. Now try that shit again and I put one in his forehead." Ettie's rebellious attitude ghosted into fearfulness when the gun was smoothly redirected at her younger brother. He looked at the old man, curiosity getting the better of him. "Wife?"

"Daughter," Jacob corrected. He kept his hands up as he moved towards her. Helping her onto the bed as he wrapped an arm around her. Her father was too busy fussing over her and reassuring her it would all be okay to notice her eyes immediately looked to the door before setting on the gun in his hand.

Seth pulled a hand towel from the bathroom. "Hey," he called for the trio's attention once more. Holding up a single finger he began to wave it warning. "No more hero shit. Next time a bullet's going in someone's knee, got it?"

Jacob nodded on behalf of the family, thought Scott's eyes were focused on the bloody bump forming on Ettie's head, while Ettie's eyes were focused on the gun in their captor's grop. So intently, in fact, she didn't notice the white cloth in his hand until it was inches from her face. Her eyes raised to his, his face a bit softer though still pinched. She slowly pulled the rough terry cloth from his hand. The moment it was passed off he returned to peeking out the curtains.

Placing the folded towel to her head, she flinched at the welt growing. "I leave you guys alone for thirty minutes..."

* * *

"It's judgment," Jacob broke the silence that stretched.

"What's that?"

"You're judgment." Jacob looked to Seth. A sad forlorn expression on his face as he came to terms with the truth. He was being punished for not helping his wife sooner, for lying to his children, for abandoning his faith. "You're here to bring his judgment down on me."

Seth gave a tired sigh, not in the mood for any more nonsensical ramblings today. "This isn't in the script, old man."

"My children have paid the price for my actions." Jacob looked to his eldest and youngest, seeing the changes the past year had done to them. They were motherless and it was his fault. Jacob's eyes fell to the floor before raising back to Seth. "I'm the one that deserves this, not them. I'll come with you willingly. Please don't make them suffer for what I've done," Jacob begged. He desecrated sacred ground, burying a sinner as a saint. God was punishing him for his lies and betrayal.

The declaration confused Scott but when he looked to his older sister he saw only pity and exasperation. He nudged her, mouthing a quiet question that Ettie just tiredly shook her head to and ignored.

This was not the work of some great cosmic force punishing them for their sins or lies.

This was the work of two very real and two very dangerous men. One of which visibly brandished the deadly weapon with the flippancy of a man who was well aware and ready to use it. "Don't go getting soft on me, old man." Seth tried to make him shut up. "Now, we still have a performance to put on. Keep the energy up."

The door opened almost expectantly, Kate's wet form visible through the growing crack. Learning from their last mistake, Jacob screamed for her to run before she even looked up from pulling the key out. The young girl took one glance into the room, and seeing an added figure, tried to do just that. She turned just that as her sister shot up from the bed, but both girls were stopped before much could be done. A revolver pointed at Ettie's head as a man blocked the door for Kate.

"Was it something I said?" He looked down at her, his large frame moving her back into the room as she tried to keep distance between them. He closed the door behind him. The small frightened whimper she gave enough to make both Fuller men tense.

"Move and I kill her," Seth warned the males as he pressed the gun to Ettie's head once more, pressing the cold metal into her forehead until she got the hint and sat back down.

"Touch her and you'll have to," she warned back.

In her vulnerable state, 'doe eyes' only added to the anxious tension in the room as she tried to cover herself. Seth spared her a glance, realizing how this must look. Disgusted by the mere idea he stepped back and checked the bathroom. Devoid of any weapons or escape routes, he gave her ten minutes to change. When her time was up he gave three sharp knocks on the door.

"Time's up, princess." When he heard nothing he looked to his brother sitting next to the window, his gun steadily aimed at the family sitting on the bed. Seth's eyes scanned him in hesitant dread, unsure if he wanted to find evidence of something having gone amiss. His brother was unwell, and though he'd deny it to anyone who challenged otherwise, Seth knew Richie wasn't quite right.

The bathroom door opened quickly, and Kate froze when suddenly confronted by the figure again. She moved around, slow and unsteady, like a skittish animal before sitting by her father.

The actors all assembled, it was time to get this show on the road. "Okay, ramblers, let's get ramblin'." Seth stood before the assembled team of hostages. "Now, we can't all go marching past the lobby all at once. It's gonna be a very guilty-looking parade. So here's how we're gonna do it." Seth's gun flippantly pointed up and down Jacob. "You're gonna go first. Alone. You're gonna get into the motor home, you're gonna start her up, you're gonna bring her around front, and then you're gonna wait. Five minutes after that, Richie and boy wonder-" Seth waved the gun between them. "-are gonna go down with our bags."

Ettie bumped her brother's knee with her own, bringing his attention back to her when he glowered at the floor. She gave the slightest hint of a smile, trying to reassure it'd be over quickly and that he shouldn't worry. It did little to help.

"And five minutes after that, me and the girls are gonna go down. Everyone should have their hero switch in the "off" position. I'm looking at you, Xena." He waved the gun at Odette. "I make the plan. Everybody executes it, or I execute you." He looked each one of them in the eye. "Simple as Sesame Street."

After instructing them to get packing, he was approached by the old man. "If I'm going first, I want to talk to my kids before I leave," Jacob requested in a hushed tone. At the back of the room, the kids packed up what little they had unpacked. Making sure there was no sign they'd been there, as per instructions, under the watchful eyes of Richard.

"That's a lovely sentiment." Seth's nodded shortly. "No dice."

"We'll have a greater chance of success if they're calm and focused." He tried to reason.

Seth looked behind the father to see the older one reassuring the younger two it was all gonna be fine. Another reason he hated involving kids, they got too scared, too unpredictable. _Fuckin A, if they cried..._

Seth sighed. "All right. One minute," he agreed. "One!" He stressed. Their window was closing and he was tired of being in this fucking hotel. Jacob nodded and returned to his family.

"We should move the RV to the back." Richie stood from his seat, a subtly urgency to his tone.

" _And why_ would we do that?"

"Something's telling me that we need to."

" _Something_ 's telling you?" Seth repeated in disbelief. " _I'm_ telling you it's fine."

"You haven't listened to a word I've been saying, have you?" Richie's eyes narrowed into into an annoyed glower.

"No, _Richard_. I haven't. " Seth could feel his jaw tick. "Because actions speak louder than words. Now, would you like to go back to our room and review those actions?" he challenged. There was silence between the brothers as they stared each other down, unaware of the subtle gaze of an older fuller studying them.

Richard was the first to break. "I've tuned in to something." Seth looked to the floor dubious and exasperated by this continued madness. The bank, the liquor store, and the fucking hotel; Richie was seeing things, hearing things, feeling things that somehow only managed to pile onto the shit show this day had turned into. "And it is showing me the way. I am back, which means _we_ are back." Richie was incorrigible. "Tell him to move the RV to the back."

Seth inhaled deeply. This time, he was sticking to the fucking plan. No more deviations. "RV stays." He pointed a scolding finger at him. "There's only one captain on this ship and it ain't you." Seth dismissed, turning his back to Richard's cold and irritated gaze.

* * *

"Are you older or younger?" She felt the need to break the silence.

"What?" Seth stopped studying at his watch long enough to see Ettie staring at him. Richard and Scott had left three minutes previously, leaving him alone with the girls.

"Are you _older or younger_ than your brother?" she clarified. She sat across from him in the small table, her gaze rather intense for a woman trying to look sympathetic.

Seth gave her a disapproving look. "Don't even try it, Princess," he chastised. "That "get to know you" shit's not gonna work."

Ettie shrugged, glancing at Kate on the bed by the bathroom. The younger girl was lost in her own mind, fiddling with the gold cross hanging from her neck as she prayed.

"It wasn't a _'get to know you'_."

"That right?" He sharply interrupted, dubious.

"More of a warning really." She didn't miss a beat. "Because if you're older, maybe you'll understand just what I'm capable of," she corrected lowly. She had his full attention as she stared up at him. She was not a weak little girl, she could not be bullied. "You or your brother touch her or my brother and so help me God-"

"You'll try another sucker punch?"

"I'll rip your throat out with my bare teeth if I have to." If she had hackles they would have risen.

Seth glowered back, but didn't put much stock in it. "You sure are a violent little thing." He looked her over before glancing back at his watch. "It's almost time, you ready?"

Ettie called for Kate, the younger girl almost jumping out of her skin before putting on her backpack and coming to Ettie's side. Seth looked between the two, clearing his throat. "Listen, um..." He paused, swallowing back the sudden bad taste in his mouth."Did my brother...do anything to you?" He sounded awkward and unsure causing Ettie's brow to raise. Almost as if he wasn't sure he actually wanted to ask. Or know, for that matter.

"He scared me," she admitted quietly. She didn't expand further than that, not wanting to pop open the can of worms that would come from Ettie knowing about the report she'd been reading when approached.

Seth sighed. "You're not the only one."

Kate turned to her sister suddenly overcome with the need to apologize for their previous fights. It was an odd feeling, an anticipation she hadn't felt before, like the air was electric and thick with uncertainty. She rubbed her arms, trying to smooth the hair that stood on end.

Ettie seemed to finally sense her sister's gaze, turning to her she smiled. "It's gonna be fine. Over the border then out of our lives," she promised, her gaze wandering to Seth at the end.

He returned the gaze and seeing the demand for assurance, called for Kate's attention. "Look at me." He had no interest in hurting or scaring little girls. "Remember what I told you. You do what I tell you when I tell you, and you'll get out of this without any bumps or scrapes." Ettie couldn't help but give him a withering, look to which Seth pointed an accusing finger her way: "You hit me first."

Ettie rolled her eyes with such intensity her head turned. Seth took one last look at his watch. "Twenty seconds." He motioned for the girls to get up.

"You're very obsessed with time," Odette commented as she stood beside Kate in front of the door.

"I liked it better when you were silent and glaring." He opened the door, motioning them out.

Ettie was the first to step through the door, her attention pulled to the figure approaching from the left. The first thing her eyes focused on was the silver Texas Ranger star pinned to his chest. The gun aimed and at the ready was second. The third was his face, a look of steely focus relaxing into an disbelieving frown before pinching once more into a furious determination the moment she felt Seth brush past her.

"Shit." She sighed under her breath.

"Hey!" He bellowed at them.

Seth's gun was drawn just as quickly, firing at the Ranger before he'd even been able to recognize him. As the Ranger dove behind a corner to avoid the small canon like bullets, Ettie pushed Kate down and away. The younger Fuller tried to reach for her sister in return, only to have her yanked away. Seth's arm came around the older girl's throat, pulling her close to use her as a shield.

"Run!" Odette ordered Kate. Kate hesitated only briefly before she spotted the two sheriff deputies at the other end of the walk. She scampered to her feet as Seth continued firing at the Ranger, backing up into the room. Nearly behind the safe wall they provided her, herhope was dashed by the sudden return of a figure in all black. Kate couldn't even scream before Richie shot both officers in the back. Kicking one in the face as he tried to turn over and shoot back. The younger Fuller skidded to a stop as he continued marching forward with a cold determination on his face.

He grabbed Kate around the neck in the same hold his brother had used, using her as a human shield as the Ranger tried to take aim. Richard kicked in the closest door, pulling Kate in with him. She struggled to keep up with his strides, almost jogging ahead as he stormed towards the door that connected the rooms. With his free hand he shot at the lock, the unfamiliar closeness making Kate flinch and her ears ring. Richie kicked the wooden barrier wide open, marching her through the room before repeating it twice more.

Kate gasped when the third time a gun was aimed at her head as they entered.

" _Don't!_ " Ettie yelped, clutching desperately at her own captors arm. Seth stopped and let out a heavy breath of air as he lowered his weapon.

"You having fun, brother?" Richie joked as he released Kate, quite sure she wouldn't be running off this time.

"Jesus Christ, Richie!" Seth chastised. He relaxed his hold on Odette as she dug her nails into his arm. "You know, a little "hey, it's me" before you fling the friggin' door open would go a long way in keeping you alive."

"You okay?" Ettie's eyes were wide as she saw her sister's hands tremble. She was trying so hard to be brave but Ettie could see through her steeled exterior. "Kate?!" she demanded an answer. The younger girls green eyes snapped to her, and Ettie could clearly see the glossy eyes that barely held back tears.

Despite their small Texas community, Kate had never had a gun fired so close to her. She'd never seen one used to take away a life, or heard the sound it made as it hit flesh. _It didn't sound like the movies_ , she thought. Kate bit her lip nodding, unable to talk as she tried not to think about those officers or what might happen to them. She payed once more in her head as the brothers argued.

"I moved the RV around back."

"You what?!"

"I told you we had to," Richie cut him off and raised his voice. "Look, we got to get out of here before Ranger Ricardo makes his way in."

"Richie I told you-!"

Three shots rang through the door, splintering the wood as if to prove Richie's point.

"Move." The taller brother didn't even hesitate before grabbing Kate's arm and pulled her back through the door. Seth and Ettie quickly following. His hand clutched hers tightly, pulling her behind to shield his back as Kate shielded their front.

"Freeze!" the Ranger ordered, shooting past Ettie's head and nearly hitting Seth's.

So close to the corner Seth took a risk and released Ettie, pushing her out of the way as he shot at the Ranger less than fifty feet from them behind the cover of the wall. The Ranger ducked into one of the rooms but not before getting off a shot of his own. Unlike Seth, he hit his target, the bullet grazing past Seth's arm.

"Go! Go!" He ordered his brother, trying to keep the Ranger at bay.

"Move it!" Richie snapped, releasing Kate. The gun still pointed at young Kate's head, they didn't hesitate to jog down the stairs and into the the waiting RV. As the door closed behind them, Kate was finally free of the gun. Ettie took her into her arms immediately, embracing her and trying to sooth her.

"Are you okay?" Jacob half begged his daughters, much later and out of breath than anyone expected. Ettie swallowed thickly trying to regain her breathing from the most intense seven minutes of their lives. She looked to Kate, a bit more easy in the familiar setting and without an arm around her neck or a gun to her head.

"Not bleeding," was all she could promise him. She released her, and watched as she slid into the back table with Scott. Her brother looked like a concerned puppy sitting there at the table, his dark brown eyes focused on his sister. She huffed a breath and tried to smile. They were okay. The two shared a nod, Scott's attention shifting to his other sister as Odette looked to Richie. "Well, are you leaving him or-"

"No." He snapped. "He'll be here." He continued to watch the door, his hand relaxing then re-tightening on his gun. He could hear the whispers in his head, the feeling around him telling him to hold on a bit longer.

" _Wait_." Richard barked at their father when the RV began to move. Jacob stopped it immediately.

"Just a little longer." Richie whispered to himself. Ettie watched him intently, her unwavering gaze drawing his own blue one.

A crash echoed above, denting the top of the ceiling, before something rolled off the top. Silence followed, shredded by the three thudding bangs against the back window.

The gun clicked as it was aimed at her father. " _Drive._ "

* * *

 **Please Review :)**

 **As always I'd love to hear what you thought. This chapters song felt so fitting for that shoot out scene and all the adults sins seeming to come after them in that moment, it really helped me turn this out once I sat down to it. Thanks for the rec, Anna.  
**


	5. 1x05 ※ Intervention

**※ Edited 2.5.18** ** **※****

* * *

Don't throw stones at me  
Don't tell anybody  
Trouble finds me  
All the noise of this  
Has made me lose my belief

Imagine Dragons : Roots

* * *

 **Bless This Wayward Daughter  
**

 **Self-Contained**

 _ **Intervention  
**_

* * *

Alex had once told her she had a miraculous gift for finding trouble. From taking in disease ridden stays to drug-addled boyfriends, she had a real knack for being at the wrong place at the right time.

Odette had corrected him upon his examples.. She didn't find trouble. Trouble found her. And oh how right she seemed to be.

Ettie stared out onto the barren road, trying to focus on the situation at hand when a sudden itch started under her skin. She needed something to focus on. Turning on the radio she was struck by the overly cheery chorus of a gospel hymn. She changed the channel rather aggressively, ignoring the presence standing behind her. When she found something other than static she sat back in her seat.

 _"Right now we are hearing from police chatter that the Geckos did in fact escape."_ The broadcaster reported. _"Local sheriffs and DHS have no leads on the vehicle."_

"Best news I heard all day." Seth huffed a sigh, finally feeling his luck was changing as he dropped into the chair behind Odette. His comments went ignored as both older Fullers stared ahead at the open road. Both lost in their own thoughts until a particular piece of information redirected Ettie's attention.

 _"The Geckos have a knack for flashy exits. They shot their way out of the bank with $30 million in bonds. Using bank teller Monica Garza as a human shield. She is still unaccounted f-"_

Ettie's eyes narrowed as she glanced at the arm that seemed to spear towards the radio, turning it off with as just much force as Ettie had turned it on. Seth's head turned, his face tense as he met her eyes before falling back into his chair. Her head turned, following him as much as she could before he disappeared from sight. Her head remained turned, the side pressed to the upholstery, listening to his deep huff as her eyes shifted back to the radio before staring at her father.

A silent exchanged happened between them. A similar and worrisome question on both their minds. Where was Monica Garza?

Her father's attention returned to the road, but Ettie didn't have the luxury of a distraction. Her gaze fell to the strip of space between them. Bits and pieces of overheard sentences coming together in her memory. Her head slowly rolling back forward as she came to a harrowing realization.

Behind her Seth slightly swiveled in his seat as he undid a few more buttons from his shirt. With gritted teeth his hand slipped under the fabric. Prodding the wound on his arm, he pulled his fingers out to see most of the blood already dried or congealed. It was a painful graze at most.

"You got a first-aid kit in this beast?" He asked Jacob. When he got no response he turned to Ettie, the young girl turned her head to watch her father. Immediately, she took note of the new hollowness in his eyes. He remained unresponsive, lost in his own world.

Seth began losing his patience. Clearing his throat he glanced backed at his brother and the teens at the table. They too remained in the same silence.

"Let me explain something to you here, Jacob: now, there's only one song that we're gonna be singing on this little road trip, and it ain't "99 bottles of beer on the wall". The song is called " _my way_ ". So if I say make a turn, you're gonna make a turn. If I say don't talk, you don't talk." Seth stood, straightening to his full height as he braced one arm on either of their seats. "But if I ask you for a first-aid kit, you're gonna-"

He couldn't even finish before the girl rounded on him. Nearly toe to toe, Ettie's arm shot out to the cabinet beside him, pulling out a modest red bag before pushing it into his chest. Seth released the grip on her seat to grab it before it fell.

"We get it, you're the big, bad, alpha male. Now stop overcompensating and cut us some slack."

Seth watched as she walked past him to the bathroom. "Thank you." He offered in slight sarcasm. Of all the things he'd asked he didn't think that one was very difficult.

Digging through the first aid kit he found quite the surprise. A church ID. " _Pastor_ Jacob Fuller, huh?" He examined at the laminated card of a much younger pastor. His hair not yet grey and his face less worn and wrinkled. "Guess that explains all that, uh, hellfire and damnation back at the motel, huh?" Seth ripped open a package of gauze, sitting back in the chair. "You do know the one about turning the other cheek, I hope?"

Jacob didn't even hesitate. "I prefer the old testament."

"Well, this is gonna be real, real simple, padre." Seth pulled on the end of the medical tape ripping it with his teeth before placing it over the gauze in a thick makeshift bandage. He smoothed it down over the deep graze, flinching when he began slapping it for good measure. "We, uh, reach the crossing at Acuña, you wave your passports, flash your pretty, corn-fed smiles,-" Seth observed the rest of the family in the rear as he buttoned his shirt and relaxed back into his seat. "- and then we're gonna sail on and I will close our deal with our guy in Mexico. After that, we go our separate ways. Nobody else is gonna get hurt. You got my word."

"What about that bank teller you took hostage in Abilene? You give her your word?" Like his daughter, the lack of hostage didn't escape his notice.

Seth paused in his movements. He stared at the side of the pastor's head, face tightening in a mixture of anger, annoyance, and discomfort. He stood and put the bag back in the cupboard. However hard he tried to control his face, the way he slammed the little door gave him away.

Through the rearview mirror Jacob watched with raised brows. He'd picked up on the change of attitude from arrogant and relaxed to unsure and tense. "Well, well." Jacob gruffly teased. "I didn't know you were capable of _not_ talking." He seemed almost proud of the rise he'd gotten from him, Seth noted.

Like father, like daughter.

"Let me help you continue to save your breath." The Reverend turned back to the road, his grip tightening on the wheel. "I don't need you to promise my family's gonna be alright. I _know_ they will be." He said confidently. "You know how I know that? 'Cause they're tougher than they look and I'm behind the wheel now. And I'm gonna make it my mission, _my singular mission_ , to get us all across that border. Not for _you_ , not for all your riches. For the only three people I have left in this world." He wouldn't fail them like he failed Jenny… of that, he was sure.

Seth swallowed, his head moving as he tried to collect himself. "I'm a professional _thief_." He tersely corrected. " _Not_ a killer."

"It ain't you I'm worried about."

Seth seemed to calm slightly at the admission. He surveyed the back of the bus. Ettie backed away from his brother as she passed him coming out of the bathroom. She eyed Richard with a keen sense of distrust. Like a confrontation with a wild animal, she made sure not to turn her back on him as she moved out of his way so he could enter the lavatory.

Seth couldn't blame her. Underneath the calm and collected exterior he was familiar with, Seth saw someone unpredictable. Uncontrollable even. Their years apart seeming to have left his brother a bit untethered from reality. His trigger finger itchy and his judgment crass.

With lowered eyes, Seth thought of the number of bodies they - _he_ \- had dropped so far. Over ten years of heists combined hadn't left them with the amount of blood on their hands as the past seven hours had.

His gaze traveled back to Ettie, taking notice of the way she leaned back against the small kitchenette counter, her hand grabbing back at the counter's edge as if to keep herself upright. Her clenched hands trembling as she seemed to stare at nothing. "Clam down." He heard himself say, loud enough to be heard but soft enough as to not be an order. Her head turned, listening but her eyes remained on the wall ahead of her. "You're fine." He reassured, sending the same look to the tense children stoically sitting in the back.

It made him uncomfortable. He hated frightened women. Hated how they flinched, or cried, or -

Begged, his mind finished. "Look, you do as you're told and you're all gonna be fine." He said a bit terser for anyone who listened. He didn't know if he was trying to reassure them, or himself.

The bathroom door opened, stealing all their attention as Richie quickly stepped backwards out of it before slamming it's door shut.

"Park it, Richie." He ordered a bit stronger. "Relax. It's all smooth sailing from here." He assured. Odette pried herself away from the counter, returning to her seat. He watched as she seemed to rub her inner arms in a curious manner as a musical ringing came from Seth's inner coat pocket.

Pulling out his phone, Seth scoffed at the number. "Fashionably late as usual, I see." He greeted.

"I have a problem." Carlos, the Gecko brother's ticket to El Rey and the man who set in motion this disastrous day, ignored his sass. His voice drawled lowly over the line. "Would you like to know what it is?" His calm tone did little to hide the edge to his voice. The question was sarcastic. Seth didn't care.

"I'm _sorry_ , did you say that _you_ have a problem?"

Carlos continued on calmly. "I am sitting at my favorite _panadera_ , I'm staring at my favorite _concha_ , and I cannot eat it."

If that was his problem, Seth had him easily beat. "Yeah?" He scoffed. "Well, mine trumps yours." He stood up and bean to pace.

"I cannot eat it because _you_ and _tu pinche hermano_ ,-" Carlos's voice became angrier and terser. "-and your very public trail of _destruccian y mierda_ -" Carlo's voice became angrier and terser. "-has cost me _my appetite_!" He roared over the phone, the sound of a woman screaming and metal and glass clanging clear over the line.

"Okay, okay. Easy there, Khan." He tried to calm him.

"Just when I thought you couldn't ruin my efforts anymore, my employees tell me that you have a _rinche_ on your tail?" He seethed.

Seth paused in his pacing, struck by the nerve of him. " _Carlos_ , it is the very _nonexistence_ of your efforts that has led us to this juncture." Seth began pacing around the R.V. "In fact, I'm starting to rethink that steep commission of yours. You know, $10 million seems like a lot of money to pay for nothing."

"And how _exactly_ do you plan to get into Mexico without me?" Carlos challenged.

"Same way we figured everything else out so far. On our own." He looked to the front of the RV.

"And _el rinche_?" Carlos asked, his fingers strumming on the now cleared table he sat at.

Seth sighed. "Well I already took care of him, too." He remembered rolling him off the RV top.

Carlos gave a huff of breath, akin to an amused laugh. The ignorance of these brothers. "A _rinche_ is like a rabid dog." He informed. "Once it picks up on your scent, it's not easy to take him down."

"Then I will _put_ him down." Seth hung up. He returned to his seat, meeting the girl's gaze in the rearview mirror. After a moment he turned away. Silence settled in the front as conversation picked up in the back.

Having heeded his brother's warning to sit down and relax, Richie sat across from the two teenagers. His arm stretched across the back of the booth, his leg cross over his knee. The picture of relaxation that had been requested of him. All except for the pistol in his tight grip, aimed unwavering at the teens.

Kate shifted in discomfit, her posture so ridge it was making her back hurt. She tried to ignore the gaze of the Gecko brother, instead choosing to stare at the mirror. The little watchful glances their sister would give with tight encouraging smiles gave her hope.

"Um e-excuse me?" Scott cleared his throat.

"Scott, don't talk." Kate shushed. She was afraid what would happen if they broke the silence Richie seemed to prefer.

"I just want to ask him not to point that gun at us." Scott defended with a glance. With pointedly raised brows, he glanced from Richard to the gun. "We hit a bump - it could go off."

"It won't go off." Richie was confident. The response was too quick to give any real comfort.

"That's a Taurus 9-millimeter, 17-shot-capacity magazine." Kate turned to her brother watching him with thinly-veiled surprise, and a bit of concern, that he knew that. "And a hair trigger." Scott finished with a slight nod to the pistol.

Richie smirked, looking from the boy to his gun. He was completely right. "So Bruce Lee _does_ know his guns."

"I'm just saying," Scott tried to reason with him. "-we could hit a bump or a pothole or something."

" _Maybe_ -" Richie began leaning closer,"-I don't care if we hit a pothole." Richie's gaze was intense, his smirk gone. " _Maybe_ I'm hoping we hit 17 potholes so I can empty this entire mag in that smartass mug of yours." Kate's eyes going wide as she stared at the gun coming closer, the sudden image of those deputies flashing before her. "Did you ever consider that, Tokyo Drift?"

Scott's mouth tensed as it hung open. He looked to the gun pointed at him, trying to control his response as he felt a familiar sensation. Petrifying fear that slowly grew to cold rage. A sudden bravado kicked in, Scott's eyes rising back to Richard's. " _I'm Chinese_." He tersely corrected. "And so was Bruce Lee."

Kate swallowed, having a bit harder time controlling her breathing as she took quiet, short gasping breaths. A brittle silence stretched before Richard smirked once more, lowering the gun and relaxing back in his seat. Kate finally felt she could breathe.

All seemed well for a moment. They thought their situation had improved.

It hadn't.

Richie's gaze fell to the bag on the seat between them and the duo watched as his brows furrowed in concentration before his face tensed into something akin to horror.

Before they could even ask what was wrong, he stood at his full height. Kate gave a scream. The pistol cocked and aimed at Scott's face. Both teens leaned back as far as they could.

Upfront, the sharp cry alerted the other adult's attention. Ettie's body twisted around the seat as she tried to see what was happening.

"What's going on back there?" Jacob questioned loudly. He couldn't see anything other than Richard's back and Scott's frightened face in the rearview mirror.

Ettie rose and tried to move back only to be stopped by a hand on her shoulder. Seth pushed her back as he propelled himself forward. He made quick work of grabbing his brother and pulling him away from the children.

"Hey, come here. Come here!" Seth gruffly ordered. He pushed him against the kitchenette in the middle of the R.V. The older and younger fullers were respectively trapped at different ends, separated by their clearly unstable captors.

"They're not what they seem." Richie began immediately. He was well aware of his brothers soft spot for women and kids, but he had to know the truth. "They're dangerous."

 _"They're not what they seem?_ " Seth repeated back in disbelief. "Richard, what the hell is going on with you?" He sighed. "Now, you were firing on all cylinders back at the motel. If you come apart on me now, I swear to God-"

"Look, I'm trying to save us! I know what they really are. I can tell."

"What the hell do you mean you can _tell_?"

"I can just _tell_." He tilted his head and sighed. "Look, I don't want to have to do this, but I'm gonna have to kill 'em, okay?" He said apathetically.

Seth visibly recoiled at the idea. He meant what he said. He was a thief, not a killer. And he was trying to keep this fucked up day's body count to an absolute minimum.

"It's the only way." Richard went on knowing his brother wasn't keen on the idea.

 _Bullshit._ Seth stared at him with cold eyes. Every wrong turn this day had taken has stemmed from something Richie alone was seeing, sensing, and hearing. They killed only when backed into a corner. And it seemed to be Richie doing the backing.

"Hey, Richard. Just talk to me, buddy." Seth pleaded. "Explain it to me, all right? Just tell me what's going on."

Richie sighed, peeking back at the kids watching them, the two having seemed to move closer to each. Under the table Scott held Kate's shaking hand. "Okay." He took a deep breath trying to think of a way his brother would understand. "Okay, for a while now, I've been getting these... signals, I guess you could call them. I didn't really know what to make of them until she came along." He began rapidly.

" _She_?" Seth was already lost.

"Yeah, she's the reason I know what Jacob and Scott really are. She's been calling me, Seth. She's been calling me to the other side."

"Who? _Who?_ " He sounded like a damn owl as he tried to make his rambling brother focus.

Richie sighed at the interruption, taking it to mean he wasn't paying attention. "I-I don't know her name. She's like a Goddess or something." Seth's brows raised. Richie picked up speed. "I-I usually only see her in reflections. I saw her in the refrigerator at the liquor store and then in the safe at the bank, and then one time I saw her through the hole in my hand."

"Wait a minute." Seth raised his own hole-less hand to stop him. "You _saw_ her in your _hand_?" He was both revolted and dubious at the notion.

"Yeah." The casualness in which he confirmed it made Seth's eyes flutter close for a moment as they tried to roll on their own accord. "Right now I just saw her. You know, she's probably still watching." Seth gave the slightest disapproving head shake as Richard turned to the bathroom. "She's the one who's been calling me to Mexico." Seth could only stare at his brother the grim reality sinking in. "That's why I know about them. She told me to look, Seth. So that's what I did."

Seth jaw ticked as he held back what he really wanted to say. A desperate curiosity got the better of him. And before he finished asking, he already knew he was going to regret it. "What did you see?"

"Well..." Richie leaned closer his voice a hushed whisper. "You see the old man?" He redirected his attention to Jacob. "He's really a demon. He's got fangs, and claws, and slime in his teeth and shit. And that kid?" Their heads swiveled to the other end. "Kid's got a tail. You remember Monica, the bank teller? She was gonna shoot me, Seth." Richard defended himself for what felt like the hundredth time.

"And the Goddess told me about that, too, and that's why I had to sacrifice her. You see, there's something bigger going on here." He continued to ramble at full speed. When his brother's eyes fell to the floor, quickly nodding along to his words in a distracted, mindless fashion, Richie grew irritated. "Do you understand what I'm saying to you? Do you?"

"Yeah." Seth's head rose, staring at his brother. His lips thinned into a straight line as he came to terms with the truth.

It just wasn't Richard's truth…

"Yeah, and-and, hey, listen." He placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Richie, _you're right_."

"What?" Richard watched his brother curiously, not understanding why he said it that way, or why he looked so… sympathetic.

"Yeah, something's been off about this whole thing, okay? I can sense it, too." Seth tried to placate him. "The trouble is, I'm not as tuned into it as you are. Never have been." Seth cracked a smile, knowing Richard "the progeny" was always the smarter of the two. _And the colder._ Richie was the brains and the locksmith, Seth the mouth and crowd control. _There was a reason for that..._ He glanced at the kids in the back, knowing Richard wouldn't even hesitate to shoot them. "I mean, come on, buddy. Cut me some slack here, okay? I can be a downright stubborn son of a bitch when it comes to admitting I'm wrong." He tried to get a laugh from his brother, even though his own grin felt forced. But it was true, and that stubbornness had put him behind bars for five years.

His smile fell a bit, as he stared at his brother's eyes, seeing but not really recognizing the guy behind them. "I-I guess it's just 'cause you're- You're my brother, you know. That I just never-" Seth shrugged in a dismissive manner.

"What?" Richie wanted him to finish the statement.

"I just I never want to admit that you're-" His eyes fell to the floor, saddened by his own late realization. When they raised, they seemed a bit empty. "That you're _right_ , you know?"

He never wanted to believe what people had been saying. Richie wasn't right in the head. He spent too much time alone in those woods while Seth was locked up. And it seemed without his brother there, what semblance of normalcy just kinda faded into nothing. He didn't want to admit it, but Seth was faced with no other choice. His brother was batshit crazy. But he still needed him. He could fall apart after they got to El Rey. Right now he needed him focused.

"But when you're right, _you're right_." Seth grinned. He placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. "You always have been the smarter one, Richard."

Richard looked at his brother with trepidation at the sudden change. Immersed in their own conversation, they missed the two plots hatching at the R.V.'s ends.

As Scott made a surprising revelation to his sister. Jacob contemplated taking action.

The reverend's eyes strayed from the road to the space under Ettie's seat. The sudden change in Richard's temperament forcing him to come to a decision.

"Ettie." He whispered. He peaked at her from the corner of his eye, waiting till she looked away from the brothers and to him. He pointedly dropped his gaze below her seat. "There's a wrench that slid under the seat. I want you to feel around and see if you can find it." He kept his eyes on the road.

"Careful." He scolded her when she moved to much. She couldn't draw attention to herself.

Damn it. Ettie slid down her seat as much as possible, keeping a peeking eye on the brothers as she slunk. She blindly felt around. Her fingertips brushed cold metal a bit thicker than the rest. With cold concentration she struggled to get a grip on the wrench. She almost smiled when she felt the cold metal slip into her hands. She pulled. It stayed.

Damn it twice.

"It's stuck." She whispered. She tried to wrangle it out of the under-seat mess of wires and beams. Her lack of success prompted Jacob to intervene. Taking his eyes off the road he tried to navigate her.

"To the left, hard turn left." Jacob guided her. Ettie obeyed the instructions finding the wrench came a bit looser. "Tilt it down, and pull."

Distracted by the operation, Jacob didn't notice the shortening road until it was almost too late. He turned back to the road just in time.

The RV came to a unexpected stop, the breaks screeching as all occupants were jostled. The brothers were thrown. Ettie had braced herself at the last minute, keeping her head from going face first into the dash but losing her grip on the wrench. She cursed through gritted teeth as she was thrown back into her seat. The back of her head surging with pain once more.

"What the hell are you doing, _padre_?!" Seth yelled as he settled on his feet.

"We're here."

* * *

"You're not just gonna stand there, are you?" Jacob asked the shorter Gecko.

Seth stood behind the passenger chair, his attention focused on the sea of cars ahead. _So close but so far..._ "Huh?"

"You know, they could board us randomly at any time." Jacob informed.

Seth looked visibly exasperated, offended by pastor's belief he was that stupid. "We were gonna hide." He corrected. "That was _the plan_ , soon as we get a little closer." He motioned to the sea of cars ahead of them. They could be here an hour, easy.

He took advantage of the time and slid into Ettie's seat as she got up to move. Closing the windshield's privacy curtain half way, he hid himself from outsider's view.

"Your brother's not well, is he?"

The sudden question tripped him. Seth was disenchanted with the attempt for small talk. "Just keep driving, padre."

"Is that why you're going to Mexico?" Seth sighed at the continued chatter. "You know, a life of looking over his shoulder isn't gonna bring him any peace."

Seth glanced into the rear view mirror. "Yeah, well, where we're going, the ends more than justify the means." He turned to the reverend. "Place makes club med look like Haiti. $10 million means never having to look over your shoulder again ever."

Jacob nodded. "Sounds like heaven on earth."

"Well, I hear it is."

"Doesn't exist."

Seth scoffed at the man. Looking him over, his eyes caught something he'd previously miss. A picture was clipped to the sun visor above the reverend's head. Reaching over he plucked it from the paper clip. He held the corner's rather gently as he leaned back in his seat, ignoring the reverend's watchful gaze as he studied the picture.

Odette stood centered in the middle, a graduate cap on her head and a dark gown open over her green dress. She was all smiles, as her sister and brother stood on one side of her, her father and what he assumed to be her mother on the other. Their arms all wrapped around each other and smiles tattooed on their faces. It was a far cry to what they were now.

"So, where is Mrs. Jacob, anyway?" He began tapping the picture against his hand, watching as the pastor swallowed before opening his mouth. No words came. The old man stared ahead. Seth's brows rose in surprise. "She run out on you?" He guessed, projecting his own history onto them. Family meant everything to him, but somehow that cookie-cutter shit just never felt right. It made his skin crawl.

"Lord called her home six months ago." Jacob corrected.

Seth's face froze in interested surprise before relaxing. He almost felt bad. He examined at the picture once more. What a happy, wholesome family. He'd never had that. "She was young." He noted, taking in her appearance before his eyes drifted back to Odette. The similarities between mother and eldest were prominent. "What? Cancer?"

"Car accident."

 _"Phew_." Seth sighed, staring at the happy family. "No wonder you don't believe in heaven anymore. I don't know how you could keep your faith in the man upstairs after something like that." He studied the reverend. "But you do believe in his judgment, though, don't you, padre?" He asked, remembering his loud plea for his children to go free. He had a feeling there was a whole 'nother story behind that one. "I mean, you _believe_ that, uh, all this was supposed to happen. You also _believe_ that your wife was supposed to die?"

Jacob remained stoic.

"Well, I guess it makes it easy in that case, right? Just let Jesus take the wheel and all that?" Seth paused, his tone changing as his eyes narrowed. "Except he's not a very good driver."

Jacob stared at the man but did not reply as he turned his gaze forward. _If only he'd known that a year ago..._

* * *

Odette braced herself against the small sink. Her vision blurred as her head hung. She was ashamed of her shaking hands. She wasn't afraid. She was addicted.

As selfish as it was, more than anything else, Ettie was craving a fix.

 _She was stronger than this_ , she thought. Her arms trembled. "I'm stronger than this." She whispered aloud. She look at herself in the mirror. Taken back to the last time she crave the prick of a needle this badly

A younger version of herself wiped the tears from her eyes, grabbing the needle of the porcelain sink. She inserted the needle into her vein, her thumb resting on the plunger of its own accord. Ettie's chin tucked into her chest, her hands shaking as she struggled to regain self control.

She could hear Alex's voice as if it was whispered into her ear. "You're stronger than you think." He always said it with such surety.

"I'm stronger than this." She told herself. "I'm stronger than this."

She pulled the need from her skin. "I'm stronger than this." She stared at herself in the mirror as she pressed the plunger, emptying the syringe into the sink.

She _had_ to be stronger than that.

Just like she had then, she turned on the faucet, running her hands under the chilly stream She splashed the cold water on her face and neck. She wanted to be strong; however, at that moment she'd never felt weaker. "You're stronger than this." She repeated once more. Her voice broke. She didn't really believe it, but she had no other choice.

Turning off the water she heard a sudden commotion outside the door. She whipped the excess water from her face, drying her hands with her jeans as she opened the 'door.

As the old expression goes : She stepped out of the frying pan, and into the fire.

 _What. The. Hell._

"I was gone five minutes" Ettie's exasperated comment cut through the group of people.

Seth aimed a gun at Scott's head, not exactly an unfamiliar sight by now. What was, was the fact he wasn't the only one taking aim. Scott held a gun in his hand, aimed at Richard's forehead. Richard seemed unperturbed.

"Kate, grab his gun." Scott asked the girl frozen to her spot.

"Don't do it, Kate." Richie ordered calmly. "You're not like them."

"Just do it!"

Kate glanced from her brother to her sister. Odette provide no help. Her eyes seeming to be glued on the gun in some sort of shock.

"I'll put one in your pretty head before you ever touch the grip, sweetheart." Seth stopped her. "As for you, you take that gun off my brother before the ounce of forgiveness that I have on reserve goes-" Seth caught a shadow quickly approaching. He turned, catching Jacob and his raised wrench just in time. "Back off!" He screamed at both the older Fuller's. Ettie kept her hands raised in defense, her father doing the same. "Back up! Back, back!" He stepped forward making Jacob step back. " _Drop it!_ " He ordered the reverend. Jacob obeyed.

"Get in the driver's seat!". They were too damn close for this shit to fall apart now. "Drive! Keep moving!" He waited for the old man to take his seat before turning back to the core of their crisis.

"I told you, Seth." Richie gloated. "I told you, just shoot this kid in the head."

" _Richard."_ Seth scolded. "Relax. I got this."

"Hey, padre." He called to her father upfront. "Why don't you talk some sense into your son before I have to take my brother's advice?"

"Son, put the gun down!" Jacob begged.

"Dad, this is _bullshit!_ "

"I know how you feel! You want to protect the family, but this isn't the way!" He tried to reason with the boy. No matter who fired first, his children would be caught in the crossfire.

"Put down the gun, Scott." Ettie ordered, slowly approaching the tightly clustered group of men and guns.

Scott shifted his feet. His aim remained steady. He shook his head. "They're bullies and they're assholes. And they don't deserve to win." His voice rose with emotion. They were just like those lacrosse jerks. Pushing, and pushing, and beating until they destroyed you. "As soon as we get across that border, they're gonna bury us in the desert."

Ettie watched him with such pity. That tone, that look on his face, she'd seen those before. Bandaging him up from a fight one to many times. She'd always wanted to involve dad or call the school but I'd just get more upset. They wouldn't understand, he'd claim. She'd tell him to calm down and let her handle it but he never would. Like his sister, he was stubborn. And like his sister, he suffered more than he'd let on.

"I know you think I can't do it." Scott's words were for Ettie as he pulled the hammer back. She never believed he could fight his own fights or fix his own messes. "But I can."

"Hey, hey, hey, hey!" Seth called for his attention as Richie brazenly leaned into the gun, closing his eyes as she cold metal pressed into his skin.

"Now, I know that you thought you could. I do. But that was before you had your finger on the trigger, wasn't it?" Seth did what he did best. Crowd control. "You see, now that you do, you're worried about the consequences, whereas I am not. That's why your hand's shaking and mine's steady as a rock." Seth's line of sight fell to the boy's trembling hands. "Because you're not _like_ me, Scott. And you don't wanna be."

There was an honesty to his words that made Odette spare him a softened glance. Seth continued to hold the gun, his eyes focused on the boy and the boy alone. He didn't want to shoot the kid. But if it came down to him or his brother...

Scott gave a shaky breath. He was torn.

"Scotty." Odette called him. Moving between Seth and he, she kept one hand up in surrender as the other grabbed his arm. "They get over the border. They get off. We leave. Nothing's gonna happen. I'm not gonna let anything happen." She reassured him.

Slowly, Scott lowered the weapon.

"That's it. That's it, there you go." Seth encouraged as the gun was pointed to the floor. "See? Was that so ha-"

Richard bolted up from his seat, grabbing the gun from his waistband as he tried to shoot the kid. Ettie stepped between, shielding her brother behind her as she gave a hard kick to the taller of the duo's knee, knocking him backward and into the arms of his brother. Seth tried to restrain his brother as Kate screamed and Scott was kept behind Ettie.

"I have to do this, Seth!" Richie struggled as the gun was wrestled away from him "This has to happen!"

 _"Enough!"_ Seth roared over him.

Jacob, seeing the struggling but unable to move, did the only thing he think off. He pressed the gas.

The RV rocked as it bumped into the car in front of them. Richard lost his balance and was pushed to his seat once more by an infuriated Seth. "Sit your ass down!" He ripped the gun from Richard hand. "Give me that." His brother raised them in surrender, breathing heavily. _"Stay!_ " Seth barked, with pointed finger. If he was gonna act like a mad dog he was gonna treat him like one.

"What the hell did you do?!" Seth yelled after a sigh. _This fucking family,_ he thought bitterly.

Outside, Seth saw the other driver get out of the car, angered and awaiting an explanation as well.

"My foot slipped." Jacob lied, pushing past him to get out. "What did you expect?"

"Hey!" Seth stopped him. His hand pushing his chest. ""Where the hell do you think you're going?"

"Are _you_ gonna go out there?" Jacob pointed to the man pacing in front of their vehicle.

Seth flashed an apologetic smile when he was seen and went as far as giving a wave. As soon as the man turned away he was back to business. "You so much as scratch your nose or tug your ear, my brother gets his gun back, okay? Got it? Move." He watched as he exited the door, turning around to see Ettie right behind him.

"Fuck." He yelled at her. "Where the hell did your brother get a gun?"

"I don't know." She lied. She did. "I mean I _do._ " She corrected. _"-_ but I don't know why he has it _now_."

"Are there more?" He studied her.

"No."

"Because the next time-"

A bang against the RV cut the argument short. Ettie darted to the side window, peeking out the curtain to see her father holding the driver against the RV.

" _I thought you were a pasto-_ " Jacob punched the man in the face, silencing him.

Ettie's mouth dropped open. Seth watched over her shoulder, shaking his head. "Now that's Old Testament."

* * *

Ettie held open the door as Seth and Jacob carried the driver into the RV.

"What a fantastic idea." Richard snidely praised. "Let's bring _another_ hostage on board!"

"You're not helping." Seth grunted as he and Jacob tossed the limp body onto the couch."What the hell were you thinking?!" He was fuming.

Jacob stared back with surprising malice. When he agreed to trade insurance, the driver had tried to flag down an officer to let them move off to the side. When faced with the idea of his children being put in more danger, he acted without thinking. All his pent up anger releasing into his punches. If he couldn't beat the men that deserved it, he'd beat the man that added to it.

"All we got to do is move the man's car forward." Jacob defended.

"So, you're calling the shots now?" Seth glared.

"Well, I don't see you coming up with any bright ideas." Jacob's voice raised over the increasingly honking horns. All other lanes were moving forward while there's was at a standstill. If they didn't get moving, border agents would come sniffing around.

"I-I'll move his car forward." Kate hesitantly spoke up.

"That won't work." Jacob dismissed.

"Why not?"

Jacob looked from his oldest daughter and son standing side by side to the shortest Fuller.

It was rather ironic. It was her exact lack of secrecy that led to her siblings bonding. Kate had never been one to hold under pressure, thus being the one the parents went to when they needed the truth. As the kids grew older, Scott and Ettie closed ranks. They stopped confiding in Kate, knowing intentionally or not she'd spill the beans.

As much as he hated to say it, he doubted his daughter wouldn't break under the pressure. He couldn't take than chance at her endangering the others. "I'm sorry, Katie-cakes, but lying's never been your strong suit."

Kate's eyes burned into him. "Well, then maybe you or Ettie should do it." She callously replied.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jaob recoiled with a confused expression.

"We have to do something now." She changed the topic. "People are getting angry out there." Kate informed nervously, the honking increasing behind them at the lack of movement. "Police are gonna notice!" She feared the same thing Jacob had. She had no wish to be in another situation that mimicked that at the motel.

"Really?" Seth's words dripped with sarcasm. "Well, thank you for stating the obvious!"

"Hey, don't yell at her." Richie stopped him. "It's not her fault." He surprisingly defended.

Jacob's voice cut short the argument. "Scott, you're gonna drive the car."

" _Me?_!" Scott felt his palm start to sweat at the idea.

 _"Him?"_ Seth was just as disbelieving.

"Oh, that's fantastic." Richard snarked. "Why don't we just throw the cuffs on right now, then?"

"It's the only way." Jacob defended. "I have to drive the R. V. and I need Ettie here, or it'll look suspicious." He observed the brothers with contempt. "And you two trigger-happy bastards have your faces plastered all over the state, so unless you want to answer the officer's questions, Scott's our guy."

Scott swallowed as all eyes turned to him.

Ettie escorted her brother to the car, asking the one question they all wondered. "Can you handle this?"

Scott paused, worrying his sister before he nodded. "I can handle it." He smiled.

* * *

Scott couldn't handle it.

Ettie covered her face with her hands as they watched an agent escort Scott into the center. Behind her, Seth cursed under his breath.

"You see? What did I tell you?" Richie yelled. "They planned this! They wanted the kid to get caught."

"No, no, no, that's not true." Kate defended.

"Alright, just calm down, Richard." Seth tried to calm him, he couldn't think if he was nagging in his ear.

Ettie rolled her eyes. "Why would I _want_ my brother to get caught?"

"To rat us out." Richard justified. "In your mind, he's safe and we're screwed."

Ettie actually gave a laugh at the insane idea, brushing the hair from her face as she turned her stare towards the ceiling. _God give me patience..._

"Seth, give me my gun." He tried to advance on her. His cold gaze was met with her suddenly serious burning glare. Her laughter stopped, her grin morphing into a sneer.

Seth held up his finger in warning, silencing and stopping his brother as he turned to Ettie. Brown eyes burned into hazel.

"Is my brother telling the truth?" He asked simply.

Ettie didn't even hesitate. "No." Seth nodded his head, believing her.

"I'd never risk my daughters' lives." Jacob rebutted.

Richard scoffed. "Seth, this is a man who killed his own wife."

"Excuse me?" Jacob cried.

Odette looked like she'd been struck. " _What the fuck?_ " She looked to them in disgusted disbelief at the insane accusation. Seth surveyed the three family members. _Jesus Christ._

Richard reached behind them, grabbing Kate by the arm and pulling her into the group. "She told me."

Jacob studied his daughter with such sadness it was uncomfortable to watch. "Is that what you think, Katie-cakes?"

"I didn't tell him anything." She was honest. _He just seemed to… to know things._ "He's insane."

Richard recoiled, visibly hurt by the accusation. "No, I'm not."

"Just what is it exactly _you think_ you know?" Jacob challenged.

"I know what you really are." Richie said.

"All right, all right." Seth tried to placate the men. But there was only so much Jacob would stand. Stepping forward, he punched Richard in the face. "Hey! Enough!" Seth grabbed Kate pointing the gun at her head as she gave a shriek. "Pigs got your son. You make one more wrong move, I take your daughter." He threatened.

Jacob calmed his breathing, trying to level his head. He stared at them. "Whatever your brother told you was wrong. Don't let him make you doubt yourself not now. In fact, if any of us, including me, makes a stupid move, we're all dead. And we've just got to stick to the plan." Seth didn't know if he was talking to Kate or him, but either way it seemed to resonate with both of them as they calmed down. "It'll work if we do." Jacob nodded to himself.

"Guys!" Ettie called out.

Seth's attention and train of though were stolen by the approaching border agent. "Yeah? Well, you better hope it does." He pushed Richard back into the bathroom, pulling Kate along with them. Jacob witnessed his pleading daughters face one last time before returning to the driver's seat.

"What's your purpose in Mexico?" The border agent asked as Jacob handed over three passports.

"Family vacation." He smiled.

Ettie peeked back into the rearview mirror, eyeing the bathroom door with a quick glance.

Richard stood behind his brother's crouching form in the RV's shower, wiping the blood away from his nose. "After everything I told you? After he _hit_ _me_?" Richie seethed quietly.

Seth kept his hand over Kate's mouth, trying to keep her heavy breathing quiet. The effort meant nothing if Richard didn't stop talking. "Look, I told you, I got this."

"You don't have _shit_ , Seth. You never have."

"Richie, _be quiet_." Seth shushed him.

"How many with you?" The border agent asked, inspecting the passports.

"Me and my two daughters."

The agent 's eyes rose up, holding up Odette's passport to verify her. "Can the other step forward, please?"

"If it's, uh, absolutely necessary. She's a little under the weather, and she's sleeping it off right now. This trip has taken its toll on her."

It wasn't a lie.

Kate tried not to move a muscle inside the shower.

Richard gave a sigh, refusing to let it go. "Look, if I don't kill everybody in here, we are never gonna make it." Kate gave a whimper under Seth's hand.

"Well, maybe that's what the voices are telling you, but they're not calling the shots right now, okay? So shut up." He ordered, straining to hear anything that was happening outside.

"You don't believe me." Richie gave a bitter chuckle. "I knew it."

"Richard, now is not the time."

"I have to finish this." Richard tried to move past his brother and out of the bathroom. Kate's whining sound increased under Seth's hands, terrified of what was about to happen to her and her family. Seeing his brother had no interest stopping or listening to reason, Seth gritted his teeth and cold cocked Richie with the butt of his gun.

The bathroom fell silent. Richard fell back against the shower wall unconscious. Seth looked down to the girl who stared up at him. Both of their gazes shifted to the door. Seth removed his hand, allowing Kate to take a few deep calming breaths.

Jacob thanked the agent as he was handed back the passports. She held up the clipboard, two black and white paper mugshots staring at them. "Have you seen these boys?"

Jacob didn't know why but he hesitated. "Can't say that I have."

"Are you sure?" She asked with furrow brows.

"They look kinda familiar." Ettie spoke up. "Those are those crazy brothers that like killed a bunch of people, right?" She played naive. Pitching the tone of her voice, she gasped. "Oh, wow, you guys think they'll be in Mexico?" Her face shifted into one of worried fear. Jacob was at a lost, saying nothing as he watched his daughter and the agent.

The older female smiled reassuringly, confident in her answer. "Not if they come through here. Have a safe trip."

Ettie screamed inside her head, biting her lower lip to keep her sardonic laugh at bay. Cruel irony. Her eyes staring at empty air as the office began walking away. They were home free.

At least until a sudden thud echoed through the cabin.

Ettie deflated, closing her eyes in exasperation. _So close…_

"What was that?" The border agent returned, having heard the thud.

"Uh, that's my daughter. She's in the bathroom." Ettie's hands tightened into a fist at her father's quick but poorly thought lie.

"I thought you said she was asleep?" The agent reminded.

"Nature calls." Jacob smiled.

The border agent studied him, her eyes catching sight of a bit of dried blood just under his nose. Her hand went to her weapon. "I'm coming aboard, sir."

Ettie waited till she was passed the privacy curtain Seth has wisely closed before jumping to her feet. They had an unconscious stranger on their couch and nowhere to hide him. A string of silent curses formed on her lips. She pulled a blanket from a cabinet above.

"Sir, I need you to open up." The agent called, knocking once more.

Ettie threw the blanket on top of the man, tucking the blanket around him before taking a calming breath and opening the door with more force than necessary.

"Sorry!" She immediately apologized. "It's a bit rusted so it sticks."

The officer gave a quick sweeping glance around the RV, her eyes settling the mass under the blanket. "That your daughter?"

"Yes, ma'am." Jacob responded. He watched with baited breath as her hand reached forward.

"I wouldn't poke the bear unless you need to." Ettie whispered. "Bad cramps and an even worse mood." The officer gave a tepid glance at the form, her hand dropping to her side. She gave another glance around the R.V. as she made her way out, stopping when they caught sight of the bathroom. Her brows furrowed, glancing from it to the couch and back again.

Ettie watched, casual in posture as she leaned against the back of her seat, her arms crossed over her chest. Inside she was cursing up a storm, praying to god she'd just leave. She'd forgotten god stopped listening to her prayers long ago.

The floor creaked as the woman began walking towards the back.

"Oh, son of a bitch." Seth hissed, hearing the footsteps come closer. Pushing Kate back into the shower, he brace himself in front of the door, readying his gun. He wouldn't go back to prison. Sure as hell not without a fight. He stared at the small girl, even tinier in size huddled in the back corner. "If you still believe in that God of yours, now would be a good time to call him." He cocked the revolver.

The door to the RV opened, Jacob jumping while Ettie merely shifted her gaze. Scott stepped into the belly of the beige beast with an officer following close behind. Ettie tightened her grip on her arms. She couldn't get jittery now.

Scott looked to his sister, trying to keep up with her casual appearance as he was released into her custody.

"Kadner, you're needed inside." The senior agent called her away from the bathroom. "Some detainee's taking a stand."

"I didn't hear that on the radio."

"Well, you're hearing it now."

Kadner got the hint from his aggressive tone. "Copy that." She nodded.

When she left the RV, the other agent stared directly at the bathroom before he turned to Ettie. "You're free to go, Odette."

She straightened at the use of her name, eyes going to Scott who looked similarly perturbed. When she turned back at the agent her eyes narrowed, staring into his. Another sense of familiarity nagging her. "Tell Seth, Carlos says "hello". Drive across the last checkpoint and you're home free." Ettie kept her watchful gaze on him as he walked back out, shutting the door behind him.

Ettie was stuck to her spot for a few more minutes, shaking off the strange feeling of déjà vu before going to the door.

A heavy revolver was immediately pushed towards her face. The very long, no good day was starting to take it's toll on her. "You keep waving that in my face, it's gonna lose it's effect." She said dully. The novelty already having worn off for her. Seth released the hammer and lowered the gun with an annoyed huff. His head lowering as he collected himself. "Carlos says Hi."

* * *

Seth's fingers drummed over the steering wheel repetitively. His eyes may have remained focus on the area outside the car but he wasn't oblivious to what was happening inside it.

 _"Stop it._ " Seth glanced out the corner of his eye.

"Stop _what_?" Odette asked causally.

"Staring like a bug eyed freak." She was leaning out of the passenger seat beside him, too close for comfort as her gaze burned through the side of his head. Seth shifted uncomfortably under the unwavering stare. He was anxious enough already. "Knock it off." He scolded once more.

"Oh god." Ettie acted aghast. "I'm sorry, am I making my kidnapping awkward for you?" The sarcasm dripped. "My bad." She straightened in her seat "I was hoping you'd take the hint. You're grinding." Ettie reached over, trying to shift the gears.

Seth slapped her hand away. "Sit down." Ettie complied. Her pointed staring continued.

After a moment, Seth's tapping on the steering wheel finally ceased. "Fine." He quickly switched seat with her. It was probably better he not be in plain sight anyways.

Checking the back of the RV he found their unnamed hostage still out on the couch, Richard in much of the same state in the chair across. At the very back sat Jacob and his younger children. Their hands joined in comfort and talking quietly around the table. "Why aren't you with the rest of the prayer group?" He inquired.

Ettie turned in her seat, copying his body posture as they both watched the back. "He's not praying. I think he's confessing." She corrected. "He can't forgive himself so he's looking to be forgiven by them." Ettie inspected the bank robber. "You wouldn't understand." She dismissed as she turned around. She missed the way he looked at her as she rolled the RV forward. The short distance much smoother than Seth had pushed.

"Confessing what?" He pried. His eyes caught sight of a familiar black cowboy hat and silver star. Straightening in his sat, his full attention was on the ranger walking towards him. The only thing that could break through the train of 'fucks' running through his head was the surprising announcement.

"That my mother killed herself."

Seth examined Odette with calculating eyes, missing the light they had so anxiously been waiting for turn green.

* * *

 **Please Review :)**

 **Thank you so much to those that returned to this story and gave feedback! Do you guys like longer 8-9K or shorter 4-6K chapters? Please let me know, I can always break an episode in 2 (I'll probably have to later down the line).  
**


	6. 1x06 ※ Confessions

-:BTWD:-

I can't help you when I'm only gonna do you wrong  
Oh, I'm going to mess this up  
Oh, this is just my luck  
Over and over and over again  
I'm sorry for everything  
Oh, everything I've done  
From the second that I was born it seems I had a loaded gun  
And then I shot, shot, shot a hole through everything I loved

* * *

Imagine Dragons : Shots

* * *

 **Bless This Wayward Daughter**

 **Place Of Dead Roads**

 _ **Confessions  
**_

* * *

 _What fresh hell was this?_

Ettie observed the bar the brothers had brought them too. After the brothers had sent their unexpected guest on his way, the family had all but silently celebrated believing their liberation would be next. But as the Geckos directed them towards a lone building off a dirt road more than an hour later, Ettie began to feel they were nowhere near done.

The Titty Twister, as its large neon sign read, seemed to attract only a certain type of clientele. Open from dusk till dawn, it read. It's structure that of an old stone and wood work one might see in a long forgotten ghost town. It appeared to risk collapsing under the blasting sound of music coming from inside.

A plethora of motorcycles and eighteen-wheelers surrounded the makeshift dirt parking lot. Their domestic RV stood out like a sore thumb. All around them leather clad and less than friendly looking bikers roared their bikes.

The center point? A large structure in front of the entrance spewed a roaring fire. The only light outside the bar's neon advertisements and scattered burning barrels. It must have lured men here like a desperate moth to a flame. No other building and no other clear road around as dusty desert stretched as far as the eye could see.

As if to further prove the seediness of the building, the doorman called out for all those to hear. "Come on in! You heard me, devil dogs and bad bitches! Come on in for the all-you-can- _lick_ " His tongue fluttered crassly. "-buffet of the most beautiful, tastiest delicacies south of the border!" He sang as he motioned to his crotch. "We've got only one item on the menu - that's true - but we've got every flavor under the Mexican moon!"

Subtly was not this man's forte. I suppose when you're selling sex it didn't really pay to be. Ettie kept Scott and Kate close as they were forced to keep up with the Gecko's or be run over by the rowdy racing bikers.

When they were clear of the chaos, Jacob motioned for the family to stop. It was time for this madness to end. "I did my part." Jacob cried out to the brothers. They, too, paused in their entrance. "We got you across the border. I'm not taking my children inside. We're done."

Seth didn't seem all the bothered in the least by the announcement. "Fine." And for a short moment the family had hope. "You three stay out here with the devil's rejects, have your own little Altamont." Seth pulled the keys from his pocket and jingled them. They could do whatever the hell they wanted, he thought, but leaving in that RV wasn't an option...

At the prospect of being left along with the hooting and hollering bikers, Kate moved in closer to her sister. Ettie didn't seemed affected by the chaos. She'd stopped at worse places with more questionable people in her dark days. But her calm amongst the chaos didn't mean she was passive. "That wasn't the deal!" She loudly corrected. She wanted her family out of here. She wanted a beach. And after this pitstop definitely a bath...

Seth's attention turned on her. "No, Princess. The deal was that we stick together until Richie and I finish our deal!"

"Need someone to hold your hand through it, pay one of the girls inside." She gestured to the club. "We did our part!"

"You're a real mouthy little thing." Richie stared at her with a coldness. Seth's insanity she could take, but Richie's unpredictability made her pause.

Seth stepped towards her before his brother could. His arms opened in an easy gesture. "In or out, I don't care!" He had to admit he'd been wished dead by many women in his life, but if there was any glare he would remember it was Odette's. It was like a cold cutting laser. Something akin to an ice cube put down the back of his shirt. But all her glowering was for naught, as the keys remained safely tucked in his pocket.

The only thing that made her shift her focus was the boisterous doorman in front of them. "Ooh-aah! You heard me, devil dogs and bad bitches! Come on in! We got _pan dulce_ of every flavor for you and any way you like it, with all the fillings! Come on in and get it!"

The group looked at him with mild curiosity and disgust. Their collective attention drawing his. "Hold it, now. Hold it. A new item has just been added on the Ã la carte menu!" He stared at the girls lecherously. "Sweet, hot,-" He licked his fingertips as his eyes fell on Kate. "-cherry pie." He began walking down the short stairs and towards the girls. It was enough to raise their already short tempers. And when he stepped in too close to the older Fuller that refused to back away, Seth stepped in.

"Alright. Okay, okay. Easy, Tex." Seth put out his hand in warning, poking his finger into the doorman's chest in warning. "They're not gonna be on the menu."

Licking his lips, the man breathily tried to coax the smaller girl forward. She wisely remained behind her sister. "You leave that up to Cherry." When he reached out to touch Odette, Seth reared back and punched him straight in the nose. In the lull of motorbike roars, they could hear the sickly crunch of the cartilage tearing apart.

The doorman fell back against the stair wall, bracing himself as he tried to regain his sight. Blood leaked on the steps from between his closed fingers. Seth shook out his hand and stared straight at Ettie. Her body stayed rigid and angry but her eyes held an amused gleam as she glanced at the bleeding man. Behind her Kate's brows rose in a bit of awe. "Inside." He ordered them. Odette grabbed Kate and steered her to her other side, away from the now kneeling man as she led them inside.

"Thanks." She coldly told Seth.

"I'm a bastard. I'm not a fucking bastard." He murmured to her as he gently pushed her forward.

"Oh, I'm gonna get you!" The doorman wheezed. Seth glared at the man in challenge before continuing in. He had more important things to deal with. He closed the doors behind him. Excitement and relief filled him the moment he saw the topless dancers and busy bar. It all felt real. Too good to be true, even. And when his eyes focused straight ahead, he was suddenly hit was the nerve tingling feeling it was.

Carved in stone bigger than him, that symbol that seemed to keep haunting him stared right back at him. An eye surrounded by two opposite curves, spiraling at their ends. It was on Richie's knife, in his drawing, in his whatever the fuck you'd like to call his episodes. Seth blinked, a flash of the bank teller's eyes pushed into her slit open palms jumping to his focus.

And like an eye, it seemed to burn straight into his fucking soul.

He was wrong, Odette had the second most effective stare. It was so effective he nearly swung when an arm wrapped around his shoulder. Shaken from his trance, Seth studied his brother briefly wondering if he noticed it, too.

"Well, we made it, brother." Richie looked around the loud and sinful club with equal pleasure. "Welcome to paradise."

He didn't know what paradise felt like but Seth had a feeling it wasn't the urge to tear at your skin. "Yeah." Paradise always seemed like such a dream. So why did Seth feel like he was in something more like a nightmare?

* * *

Ettie didn't miss the way Scott glanced from girl to girl while trying to seem disinterested. When one of the women approached him with an offer, their father quickly side-stepped in. As he gently told her to find someone else, Ettie grabbed Scott by the shoulder. She tried to whisper as quietly as she could in the bustling and music playing club. "Can you try to behave? No touching and no staring."

Scott looked at her with frustration. Ettie raised an eyebrow and cocked her head in her father's direction. "You want _him_ to have _the talk_ with you? Because if you thought mine was awkward wait until your reverend father gives it to you." She nearly cringed at the memory. The boy had no idea how lucky he was she got to him first.

" _Ex_ -reverend." He corrected.

"Smartass." She pushed him in jest. Now she kind of hoped their father saw his not so subtle eagerness.

Katie seemed rather fine with the situation, all things considering. She stayed close to their father and focused her attention on the bar and band rather than the lap dances and pole routines happening around them. They were drawing attention standing in the front door like this, but no Fuller was eager to make a move deeper into the pit of lust. So Ettie turned to Seth, catching him check his watch for the fourth time from her peripheral vision.

"Lose something?" She mocked.

Seth seemed genuinely flustered by the fact. "He's not here yet." Ettie couldn't help but peep at him through her lashes in curiosity.

She inhaled a sharp breath between her teeth. "Sure he's coming?"

Seth straightened his suit and stared at her with annoyance. His finger raised towards her in warning. " _You-_ " His jaw ticked as he restrained himself. Her self satisfied little smirk alerting him to her games. She couldn't annoy him into giving up the keys. _Maybe into shooting her_ , he thought wistfully, b _ut not letting them go that easily_.

He restrained himself from falling for the bait. "-are _severely_ trying my patience."

"Great! We're on equal ground then." She gave a cheeky close mouthed smile.

Clasping her shoulder, he pushed her harder then before, steering her away from the door and through the crowd. The family followed. Seth quickly came to the conclusion that the Padre may call the shots but the family would followed her anywhere. Good piece of information to keep in mind for later.

"Hey!" He let her go once they reached the bar. Odette stepped back on his foot as she spun out of his way. Seth glared at her from the corner of his eye before focusing on the task at hand. The bartender waited impatiently for the order. "I'm looking for a friend of mine, name of Carlos Madrigal. Said he was gonna meet me here."

The long haired bartender surveyed at the out of place family behind Seth before shaking his head. "Carlos ain't here."

"But he is on his way, right?"

"He comes and goes as he pleases." He shrugged. "It's his place."

"This is _his_ place?" The unexpected information made his stomach curl. You don't close a deal behind enemy lines. Carlos had lead him to believe they would be meeting on neutral ground, as business should always be done. Seth looked to the bar top, hanging his head in annoyance. He'd been rushed and gotten careless.

"You gonna drink or not?" The bartender looked at him with a cold glare, irked at the continuous questioning.

Seth's head raised, contemplating his choices. He had none.

"Yeah." He decided, suddenly in need of it. "Let me get a tall bottle of your best firewater, Cochise." Seth pulled out his wad of cash and took more than enough notes from it. "Hey, do me a favor, all right? When Carlos shows, give me the high sign, all right?" The bartender took the cash but made no promised. His dark brown eyes were intense, never straying from the Gecko as he lead his hostages to an empty table. Once more he was able to make the group follow just by steering Odette. He was soon to become a goddamn Baptist wrangler at this rate.

"You, sit down. Stay in sight." He ordered before leaving.

The family was quiet until Seth was far gone from the table. "I want to go home." Kate stared at the table.

"We're gonna get out of here so-"

"Not out of here. I want to go home." She stressed the word. The day had taken it's toll on her, now she seemed too exhausted to care. What made it worse is the fact her voice held no passion in it as she continued to stare at nothing.

Jacob held her hand and tried to coax her into more hopeful spirits, but Kate pulled back. As Jacob tried to cheer her up Ettie caught Scott hypnotized by a topless dancer high above the crowd. She kicked him under the table.

"Ow!" Kate gaped at her sister like she was insane. Ettie awkwardly apologized before glaring at Scott. The warning was all he needed. He diverted his attention elsewhere.

Silence fell over the table as they each waited for one another to say or do something. They were never a loud family, but by far, never in their life had an uncomfortable silence stretched so long between any of them. If an outsider was asked to summarize the scene a single word they might use was defeated.

They had screamed their fights and thrown their fits. Nothing had made it any better and after four days and a very very long evening, they Fullers were quickly coming to terms their family wouldn't be anywhere close to what it once was.

But in their separation there was unity. Because in the same moment all four of them turned a glare on their captor.

Seth put down five shot glasses and the bottle of tequila. Without looking at any of them, he opened the bottle and filled every glass up. He sat between the girls.

Dread filled their stomachs as their father struggled to look away from the glass. A sad sense of pride emerging when he returned it to Seth. "Not for me." Jacob slammed his filled glass down with determination. "And not for them." He slid the glasses back.

Seth stared at the glasses, his jaw slightly tensing before pointedly grabbing a glass. "Relax, Red Ryder." He picked the shot up and forcefully put it in front of Kate, repeating the same motion with Scott. "These Buckaroos earned their bonus." He grabbed the glass that was once Kate's and made a grand sweeping motion across the table, placing it in front of Ettie. He ignored the stare he felt burning into the side of his face. "So did you." He pushed the last of the gasses back towards the reverend. "Drink up." He encouraged before knocking his shot back.

"Dad, can we?" Scott eagerly asked.

"Absolutely not."

"Aw, come on, pops." Seth poured himself another glass full. "We're a band of brothers now. Crossed the desert. Didn't even need Omar Sharif." His head was thrown back again as he drank.

"As I recall, he killed a man for drinking out of the wrong well." Jacob eyed him in dissatisfaction.

"Yep. I love that scene." Seth ignored the jab and threw back another shot.

"Just how many of these did you have while you were gone." Odette's eyes fell to the glass, gently moving it to watch the amber liquid swirl. She lifted it eye level, trying to determine what the hell it was supposed to be.

"Drink." Seth glowered at her.

"No." She challenged back just as quickly. "You seem to be finishing the bottle just fine."

Jacob stepped in with Seth leaned closer to his daughter, their heated stares uncomfortable. "We're not your _brothers_. We're not your family. We're your _prisoners_."

"Dad, don't." Kate tried to make him be silent. Seth seemed to allow Odette's outbursts but rarely allowed others. _They were so close to being done..._

"It's all right, little lady." Seth dismissed. "You see, papa bears grumble. That's what papa bears do."

"You think you're in control 'cause you got the keys?" Jacob questioned. "You think you're on top of the world. _But you're not_." He watched Seth's face tense. "You're on the bottom. And you're scared."

"And you think you're better than me." Seth released the hold on his glass to point a finger at the old man. "You too good to have a drink with a common thief? Is that it?" No one answered him. "Now, like it or not, we are a family. A broken, messed up, sad excuse for a family. But, God damn it, we got love for each other, don't we?" He observed the faces around him. Missing the way Kate and Scott glanced at Ettie. A weird choice of words that echoed what she's said to them earlier that day. "Love and forgiveness." He put on a little drawl to mock them. "That's how you get through the day, right?" He challenged them.

Silence remained.

Seth's eyes narrowed, he leaned back in his seat and pulled Kate's chair closer. The sudden jerk and irksome sound made her gasp, not yet off the edge she'd been put on all day.

" _Don't._ " Ettie warned, a new edge to her voice.

She went ignored. "So, here goes, sis." Seth leaned close to her. "I left some bodies on the ground back in Kansas. Now, no doubt they were good men and true, but they were in the wrong place at the wrong time, and they stood between me and my freedom. _So I did what I had to do._ I did what _anybody_ would do. Can you find it in your heart to forgive me?" He asked.

Kate looked to her sister, then father, trying to find a cue as to what to do as she looked anywhere but at their captor. Seth's jaw jumped as he grit his teeth, the silence grating on him. "I can't hear you."

He was a thief, not a killer. But after today this was his legacy. Tarnished and stained with a bloody body count, no longer where the Gecko brothers infamous thieves. Now they were just a couple cop killers, no different from the other brute bank robbers of the world. It was demeaning. And while he'd fired many a shot in his time, the past 24 hours had left a bigger body count than he'd evr imagined. It weighed on him. The frustration. The anger.

 _The guilt…_

His words were clocked in sarcasm and anger but they held no lack of meaning.

He wanted to be forgiven.

Odette had seen enough drunks in her time to know the language. He wanted to be forgiven. She nodded when Kate sought her once more, hoping he'd stop once he'd gotten what he wanted.

The younger girl studied Seth's eyes, seeing a pain behind the sharp stare. "Yes." Kate finally answered.

"Yes, what?" He leaned his head in, tilting it as if to hear better. He wanted to hear the words.

"I forgive you." She amended.

Seth slapped the table. "Bingo." He looked to the father before pouring himself another glass. He swallowed it without pause "Good job." He encouraged her. "Now you."

"Now me, what?" Kate asked confused. She was not gonna drink that.

"Confess."

"Well, I've never killed anyone!" Kate almost laughed.

"Well, you must have done something _real, real bad,_ right? Something real, real bad that papa bear here never, ever dreamed of, not even in his late-night cable- TV, soft-core dreams, I bet? Hmm?" He stared at the father.

"I caught her once-" Scott joined in.

Seth snapped his fingers, his gaze remaining on Kate. "Ah!" He silenced the boy with a pointed finger before turning it on her. "Got to come from her." He looked back at Kate. "Show time. We're all waiting. What do you got?"

"I-" Kate turned her eyes to the ceiling, trying to find the courage. "French-kissed Kyle in the back of the church." She got it over with.

"Whoo! Wow! Preacher's daughter playing tongue hockey in the house of the Lord. Did you get religious? Hmm? Don't answer that." He quickly amended. "We'll leave that one a secret."

"Leave them alone." Ettie ordered.

Seth's attention turned back to her. He studied the girl tediously, eyes roaming all over to this discharge of her father. She was beautiful, there was no denying that. From her glossy brown locks to her long shapely legs. He bet the padre had to beat the boys of with sticks. But that wasn't the focus of his dare he say, fascination. She was rebellious. _Defiant_. Every action, every glance, barbed with a hardened strength he'd met unmatched. He'd underestimated her back at the hotel. He wouldn't make the mistake again.

"And what about you, angel eyes?" He asked her. "If you were a cowboy, I'd bet you'd wear a black goddamn hat." He watched her glower further. "So come on, fess up to the table."

She didn't have the luxury of surprise that Kate did. All her worst points were well known in the family. Hell, in their _entire church_. She actually hinted a toothy smile, her eyes sparkling as she leaned closer. "I ran away with my druggie boyfriend and got hooked on heroin for five years."

Seth's huffed out a breath of laughter. Her casualness misinterpreted as unimpressive lying. "You're not playing the game right sweetheart." His eyes fell to her arms when she pushed up her sleeves, and dropped her arms onto the table. The circular scars cluttered around the nooks of her elbows stood out again the otherwise flawless skin. Seth amusement faded just a bit, his well practiced smirk still in place as his eyes rose back to hers. She was telling the truth. "Well aren't you full of surprises." His head tilted to the side.

Ettie's only response was flashing terse smile. She pulled down her sleeves once more. Hopefully he was shocked enough to let the game end.

"You think you can tear us apart?" Jacob interrupted, onto his little game. "It won't work."

"Oh, well, that's 'cause they already heard your confession, right, _padre_? They already heard the gospel according to daddy. Tie it all up in a nice, neat little bow for him. _And lo,_ " he mocked in a preaching voice. _"the marriage was falling apart,_ he said. _That's why_ he crashed the car."

"You don't know a thing about it." Jacob snapped.

"Except I never heard a why, _padre_. _Why_ was mommy and daddy's love on the rocks, huh?" He pestered.

"You better stop right there." Jacob leaned forward as well little space between the table separating them. Seth could see a fraction of his daughter in him.

"Or what? God's judgment is gonna come down on me? That's what you were spewing back at the motel, right? You said you had this coming." Seth reminded as he leaned back. His brown eyes studied the rest of the occupants around the table as he refilled Odette's glass. "Put your glasses up." He ordered. "Up!" They did as told. "Here's to the book of revelations." He swallowed it back. The two children obeyed, immediately starting to cough when they tried to breath after.

"Like angels pissing on my heart." Seth mused.

"So that's what that feels like." Scott's face twisted almost painfully.

"Well, I got to go see a man about a horse." Seth stood. Talk amongst yourselves. Share your, uh, sorrows, your joys. I don't really give a shit. Just remember,-" He put his hand in his inner coat pocket. "I have the keys." He dangled them in front of the family before leaving.

"Go to hell." Jacob said, malice and hatred for that man, sharpened his eyes.

Kate studied him, saddened to see him in such a state. Her eyes fell to the shot glass before him, wondering if he would finally break the promise he'd renewed. His hand grasped around it. But instead of bringing it to his lips he poured it on the floor. Generally well mannered, he did little to hide his anger as he placed the glass upside down on the table. But Kate couldn't help but feel the way he looked at it was a struggle, regretful almost.

Maybe it'd be better if he had.

* * *

Seth slid past the group of bikers and strippers to the back, finding his brother easily amongst the fray as the only suit among a sea of leather and skin. A knife throwing competition was cheered on around them.

"Check it out." Richie missed the exasperation on his brother's face. Picking up one of the flat throwing knives, he held it carefully in his palm. He flipped and twirled the knife with ease."When was the last time you saw me do that?" Richard smiled.

"Congratulations." Seth said flippantly. "Now come on."

Richie flipped the blade in his hand once more, eyes returning to the knife throwing game before him. "Seth, I ain't leaving this place."

"Look, that beige monster sticks out like a third tit on a stripper, okay?" Seth pointed towards the door. "Not exactly the best place to keep our money." He harshly whispered. "I need you to keep watch while I stash it somewhere else." Richie shook his head with a quiet laugh. "Oh, I'm sorry. That's funny?" Seth's patience wore thin. "You want to fill me in on the joke?"

"You just sat down to the table." Richard tisked. "It's a little early to fold your hand."

He grew distracted by the start of a new game. Leaving his brother to ponder as he stepped up to bet and play.

Seth followed, stepping in front of him and pushing him back. "Hey! You kept saying somebody was calling you here, right? What did you mean by that?"

"Oh, _now_ you want to know. Forget about it, Seth." Richard shook his head. "You already had your chance." He picked up his knife and pushed past. He had a game to win.

Seth gazed at his brother with tired eyes. He sighed. With no other option and little choice, he headed to the Fuller table. He wasted no time pulling on the back of the chair. "Move it."

* * *

Sunset had long passed by the time Seth lead Odette out the bar's doors. As predicted, the only light seemingly for miles was the tower of flames, and the lit barrel fires sparsely scattered around the parking lot.

"What the hell are you doing now?" Ettie stayed a few steps behind Seth. He'd given her no instruction or information after ordering her form the table. Her gaze roamed the now mostly abandoned lot, almost all previous occupants had found themselves inside. She stared at the back of Seth's head with a hesitant curiosity.

"Move it, Princess." He motioned for her to keep up. He knew she wouldn't try to run, not with her family still with his brother. But he didn't expect her to drag her feet so much either.

They came to a stop in front of the beige RV. Seth finally turned around as he opened the door. "Stay here." He pointed to the ground like one would to a dog. "Keep watch."

Ettie examind the desolate area. "For who?" She asked amused. She crossed her arms, looking around for any movement. The only people they'd past were a few bikers fighting outside the door.

"Just watch!" He snipped, leaving the door open as he disappeared into the RV. With an annoyed huff, she sat on the RV's step, staring out into the human-less dirt lot.

Seth pulled the black bag out from below the couch, feeling a short reprieve of relief when he unzipped the bag to see the bonds once more. He put the bag on the kitchenette, rummaging through the blag to roughly count them.

The sound of crickets, barking dogs and distant motorcycles was cut by the clattering of sound inside the RV. "What _are_ you doing?" Ettie leaned back, her eyes leaving the lot to see Seth tear apart the cupboards.

Seeing her he snapped his fingers. "Hey! Mind your business. Eyes forward!" He chastised with pointed finger. With a roll of said eyes, Ettie returned to her post. Her head fell to rest on the cold metal of the doorway.

 _How did she end up here?_ She gently hit her head against the door over and over again, her face twisting in closed eyed self loathing as she cursed her stupid standards of hygienics. They should have just stopped at the by-hour fleabag Kate had suggest.

The rummaging continued until it suddenly stopped. Seth sighed. "You got any duct-tape in this beast?" He asked.

"Overhead compartment behind driver's seat." She instructed, opening her eyes to a, _shockingly_ , still empty lot.

Seth bobbed his head in thanks. A taunting silence fell between them, begging to be broken as he moved things around until, finally, he found the role of silver tape.

"Is this my punishment for punching you in face?" She felt like she was in time out.

"Yes." He answered without missing a beat. Ettie's eyes twisted close once more, resuming beating her head on the door. "So now that you don't have to worry about the little one's innocent ears" Seth mocked. "-what's the real story?" He asked as shrugged out of his jacket.

"What story?"

"You're real confession." He clarified, beginning to undo the buttons of his shirt.

"I told you-"

"No." Seth shook his head, his lips pursing in a disappointed grimace. "You gave that up too easily." He argued. "So what the _real_ story?"

Ettie peeked over her shoulder, her brows raising when she found him undressing. She began to understand the importance of the suite. Dressed down to his slacks and undershirt, the tank top did little to hide the stereotypical physique of a freshly escaped convict. Her eyes gave a quick scan of his well muscled body, the dips and crevices of muscles on his stomach still visible below the thin white fabric. But it was his side that demanded her attention. From wrist to collar bone fluid black lines seemed to move up and down his arm in an abstract or tribal design.

Seth looked up from undoing his buttons. "What don't you understand about _eyes forward_!" He chastised.

" _Awe_ , are you shy?" She turned away. _He had no reason to be_ , she thought. "Tell me your, I'll tell you mine." She bargained. "What's the story behind the tattoo?"

Seth glanced down to the tattoo in question. Considering his option before his mouth opened on it's own accord. "Richie pulled me out of a fire when we were kids." He admitted freely, having no plans to see her ever again.

"Huh." She mused carelessly.

" _Huh?_ " He echoed, wanting her to expand. It as a very loaded 'huh' in his opinion.

"Nothing. It's just...he seemed more the type to _start_ fires then pull someone out of them."

"Well he's not exactly-" Seth cut himself off with a shake of his head. What the hell was he doing defending him to her. "Alright, your turn princess." His words were actuated by the skipping screech of tape being pulled from it's roll. Seth began wrapping the silver adhesive around himself, tapping the bonds to his side.

Odette took a long deep breath through her nose steeling herself. " _Nah_." She deflated with a shake of her head. "It's not nearly as interesting as that."

She rested her head back on the doorway, practically grinning as she heard his movements freeze. She could feel his dagger glare stab at her.

Fair is fair, she supposed. Not like she could be judged by him anyways, she reasoned. Her grin lowered, as her mouth fell open. The words had only been spoken a few times, each one leaving her tongue feeling heavy and numb. "I had an abortion."

Seth turned, at the change of tone. For the first time she sounded defeated, weak even. Seth shifted, uncomfortable. He wasn't raised to show emotions, or pity, or any form of 'd been beat into him at a young age. But he couldn't help but want to make it better. Seth Gecko: always the rusted white knight. His chin tucked to his chest as he continued wrapping the tape around his torso. "That's not so bad." He softened his own tone, looking from the tape to her.

She shook her head, clearing the image of her parent's faces from her mind. A hint of a smile, more wistful than happy ghosted her face. "Yeah." She hollowly agreed. "I guess it shouldn't be." She blinked away a stinging in her eyes, remembering Kyle's words in the woods.

 _Murderous whore_ , he'd spat at her. A sudden rage developing as it had then.

"But try telling that to your pastor father." She grit her teeth.

It didn't matter her reasons, her rights, her own goddamn conscious. In the eyes of her parents she'd done the worst thing she could. Go against god, a take an unborn Fuller down with her.

"Yeah, well...Fuck 'em." Seth attempted to find common ground as he finished buttoning up his shirt. His intentions meant well but his words out of place.

"How about _fuck you_?" She put her anger on the one person around she could. Any civility was forgotten as she stood up and rounded on him.

Seth slowed in his movements to tuck in his shirt. His brows furrowed at the complete 180 she'd just done. Jesus, she was worse than his ex-wife.

"Why are we here? Still here? I mean, _Christ_ , we played the human shield and the happy family, and the damn get away driver, and still even _miles_ away from the border in the middle of nowhere we're _still_ stuck with you!" She ranted.

Seth had stopped listening half way through, shaking his head as he finished straightening his appearance. Grabbing the now empty bag, he walked towards her; an equally narrowed gaze on his face.

Neither backed away as they met each other on the stairs. Seth braced his hand on the top of the metal doorway, leaning forward to stare her in the eye.

"You are here because until I have two tickets to El Rey in my goddamn hand, this beige beast-" he slapped the RV. "May be our only get away. You are _here_ -" he pointed to their feet. "-because my brother has gone off the deep-end and those baptist bible bastards aren't going anywhere without you, sunshine." Seth's head nudged in the direction of the bar.

Odette gave sharp exhale of breath as she bit her lip. God she'd give anything to slap him. But as he was the reasonable of their captors she dare not take the risk. "You're a real bastard, you know that?"

"Been told once or twice before." He stepped down the stairs, pushing her out of the way with the black bag. Seth surveryed the deserted parking lot, spotting an old volkswagen scirocco sitting at the outer edge. His fingers glided over the top of the car, pulling up a thick layer of dirt and dust. "Bingo." He sighed. He tried the door. Unlocked.

Inside the car, a collection of woven blankets, magazines and stray fast food garbage littered the backseat. Odette bent forward getting a closer look at the rather 'retro' design on what appeared to be a burger wrapper. She picked it up carefully at the edge, studying the old design, faded and worn.

"What's wrong with your face?"

Odette's studious stare shifted to exasperating annoyance as she straightened. He was such the charmer. "This doesn't seem weird to you?" She questioned. Holding up the wrapper before throwing it back in the car. Even the woven mustard yellow blanket appeared dated.

Seth's brows jumped, missing her point.

"Of course not." Ettie rolled her eyes, her hands raising in surrender before falling to her side. She meandered away as Seth hid the bag in the backseat. The thief gave little thought to her hesitance until he found a newspaper protruding from between the seats. He pulled the folded paper out, glancing over the headline.

Reagan freezes Libyan assets in US.

"Hey."

"What?" He dropped the paper, throwing the woven blanket over the bag.

"Hey." She hit his shoulder.

"What?" He asked, more annoyed this once. He backed out of the car, slamming it closed.

"Whoo!" A victorious cry drew his attention. " _Iwepa, wepa, wepa_!" The doorman to the club chanted as he stepped forward.

Seth sighed, unintimidated, and unimpressed. "You again?" Seth asked, coming to a stop in the middle of the open lot. "I didn't break your nose back there, did I?"

"Yeah, _pendejo_ , you did." He pointedly sniffed and dabbed at the blood still below it.

"That's terrible," Ettie glanced to Seth hoping he wasn't about to do what she thought he was. "'Cause if you don't get out of my way, I'm gonna break the rest of your face, too." He warned.

Ettie gave a low deflating sigh.

The man laughed. Snorting and bending over.

"Sorry. Is something funny?"

"That look on your face!" His face twisted in a fit of forced giggles.

Seth pointed at his own annoyed expression. "This face?"

"No." The doorman grew serious. He whistled. At the sound, a group of men began to emerge from behind various cars and shadows. Seth gave a low curse. " _That one._ "

"You really know how to make friends, don't you." Ettie sighed.

Seeing the 5 on 1 odds, he turned to Ettie. He knew from first hand experience she had a hell of a punch. "You wanna step in, She-Ra?"

"Sure, give me the keys first."

"Not gonna happen."

"Then I'm gonna go with _no_." She backed away from the enclosing circle, putting her back against the forgotten car they'd stashed the bag in.

Seth sighed, shaking his head. He was really starting to hate that girl. Pulling the gun from his behind his back, he shot two off the opposing men in the knees. His quick aim was impressive but not enough. A chain was swung and wrapped around his gun, pulling it from his hand and leaving him disarmed.

But Seth was far from defenseless.

The crowd closed in around him still four on one but Seth held his own. His punches were quick and well placed, knocking them back and away while only taking minimal hits of his own. All that changed when his arms were seized by two of the men.

Odette's satisfied smirk fell to troubled worry when he was restrained. He was left wide open to attacked as they landed blow after blow to his ribs and stomach. A few went as far as to uppercut his hung head.

Ettie shifted on her feet her anger at him conflicting with her pity. Her eyes were attracted to a silver glimmer, spotting the discarded and forgotten gun only a few feet away.

Ettie surveyed the gun, the thief, and the bar in which her family was held captive.

 _Damn her moral integrity._

"Pick him up!" The doorman ordered when Seth began to sag. A flat wooden board in his hands. "This is what we do with pinche interlopers!" He swung the wood but dropped it when it suddenly splintered, a gunshot cracking through the air.

Every man's attention turned to her and the gun in her hand. "Back off." She ordered.

Seth looked at her in slight awe. The American sweetheart all but gone as she aimed the gun at the doorman. Unlike her brother, her hand didn't tremble, her posture still as stone. "I said: Back. Off." She gritted.

The doorman pulled a machete from his side. He wielded it threateningly, turning his attention on her.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Seth tried to call his attention back. He struggled against his captors, feeling that same rush of anxious energy he'd made Ettie feel all afternoon.

The doorman gave a lecherous grin, imagining how sweet it'd be to cut into that cherry pie. He licked his lips. "You gonna shoot me put-"

Another shot split the air followed by a gasping scream as the doorman's dropped the machete. He cradled his now eight fingered and bloodied hand.

Seth turned to Ettie, even more impressed with the shot. But she held the same surprise he did. It didn't come from her. From the darker edge of the parking lot a new group emerged, one of them holstering a gun.

"Aah!" The doorman cried, turning towards where the shot had come from. He was aghast. "You?!" He seemed terrified of the new arrival.

Dressed in all black, from his shoes to his dress shirt, their savior strolled in with a superior ease. A pose of similarly dressed men behind him.

"But- no, no, _NO_!" He yelled in a pleading manner, arguing with the man who hadn't even said anything. Doorman turned back to Seth, a new hatred in his eyes. "He broke my nose!" His tone went from accusing to begging as he turned back to the intruder. " _He broke my nose_!" It was a pathetic whine.

"Untie him and go." He was ordered. The group of attackers immediately released Seth and fled. The thief fell to his hands and knees as he tried to catch his breath.

His savior crouched down on his haunches, observing Seth as he tried to catch his breath on all fours. "You're a long way from Kansas City, Mr. Gecko." He extended a hand, helping him up.

"Are you alright?" Ettie was quickly by his side, putting his arm over her shoulders as she helped balance him.

Seth inspected her with guarded eyes and furrowed brows. The cold looks and heated glares replaced with wide eyed concern as she stared back. He felt a warm graze against his chest. His hand caught the offending appendage with it's fingers half into his inner pocket.

" _Peachy_ , sweetheart." He pulled Ettie's hand away from the keys she'd just barely gotten to graze. He watched her worried eyes sharpened and narrowed to the face he was becoming accustomed to.

Ettie ripped her hand out of his. "You're welcome for saving your life."

" _Really?!_ " Seth nearly laughed if not so enraged. "You don't think you could have stepped in sooner?!"

"What? Does the _big bad_ ex convict need help from the _little ol'_ church girl?" Ettie leaned in closer, taunting.

Seth pointed towards the bar a silent demand for her to return. "If I have to see your face for another goddamn second I swear to god-"

"What? You'll shoot me?" Ettie held up the gun still in her hand, extending it behind her back and out of reach when he made a grab for it. Seth's nose nearly brushed hers as he stared her down. He was a man of pride. He wouldn't play the childish game, certainly not with witnessed. When he stepped back she relaxed her own stance. Handing over the gun, she felt pleased with herself as his jaw ticked in a familiar manner.

Seth put the gun back in his waistband. " _This_ _close."_ He held his thumb and finger just slightly apart in warning. Odette rolled her eyes, slapping the hand out of her face.

She returned to the bar, Seth and his new friend following not far behind. When she entered, she spotted her sister moving through the crowd.

* * *

Kate tried to move inconspicuously through the crowd. Her eyes searching for the familiar faces of her sister or Richard. It probably wasn't the smartest idea, but she couldn't stay at that table with her faithless father a moment longer. She didn't want to hear about judgment or faith. It was a long and taxing conversation she didn't have time for. She cleared the main crowd, feeling safer off to the side as she scoped the sea of faces. _She just wanted to go home._

"Lost your way, little Bo-Peep?"

Kate was stopped in her search of Richie. She turned at the comment that could only have been directed at her. Kate showed no outward expression and meeting the blonde man again. The same one that had tried talking to her when she was ordered out of the bar by her sister. "Then again, I guess there's enough sheep in this place to follow you." He looked her up and down. Kate noted his glasses were gone and his wardrobe choices were more leather centered. "Wait a minute." His brows furrowed. "I know you." He realized.

Yes, but like her sister, Kate was on a mission. "I got to go." She tried to leave.

"No, hold on a second." He seemed concerned. Kate stopped about to assure him she was fine when he ruined the illusion of decency. "Your legs must be tired. You've been walking around my mind _all day._ " He chuckled low in his throat as

Her eyes became hooded in a familiar unimpressed expression. She was tired, she was angry, and she was going home. "Well, I'm gonna _keep_ walking."

He stepped in front of her path ."Well, now, are you here all by your lonesome?"

"No, she's not."

Kate didn't even have to look behind her to know her sister held the same displeased expression. Ettie stepped up behind her sister. "You seem familiar." Her tone was clipped and layered with false interest.

He grinned, stepping closer. The less developed girl forgotten. "We've met."

"I know." Ettie smiled, her voice sang with excitement. "I think last time I told you to back off my sister then, too." Her kind expression belied her angry eyes. It wasn't hard to pick up on the underlying aggression.

"Just looking out for the young lady." He defended. "If any of these hooligans give you a hard time, you just tell them you're with Sex Machine."

" _Sex machine?_ " The duo questioned.

Sex machine gave a sharp thrust of his hips, the leather case over his crotch unlatching to reveal a short gun with two barrels deliberately placed beneath it.

Neither girl was impressed. "Go." Ettie ordered her sister away from the man for a second time that day. Unlike the first time, her voice was calmer. But her rage was deeper _._ The Fuller girls weren't fans of the male species today.

The younger Fuller glanced from the gun to its holder. "I bet it shoots blanks." Kate walked away.

"It doesn't." He clarified to Ettie with an embarrassed chuckle.

Ettie gave a hum of something like acceptance. "Interesting." She excused. "But I've had bigger pistols in my face all day."

When she tried to walk away she was stopped in a move he'd tried before. "Why don't I buy you a drink?" He offered.

"Why don't you buy yourself a dance?" Her eyelashes fluttered, that American-sweetheart facade shifting to innocent seduction almost effortlessly.

"Even better" Sex Machine grinned lecherously, eying the cleavage peeking from her tank top. He always did prefer the tease. And what a tease he'd caught.

Her hand braced on his chest, leaning forwards with a clear grin. " _Great_." She drawled sultrily. She gave a hard push, clearing her way. "Dancer's are that way." She pointed in a vague direction as she passed. But before she left she paused and turned around. "Oh, and go near my sister again and I'll de-barrel you."

The professor tried to hide his flinch. "I like 'em feisty!" He called after her, hating to see her go but loving watching her leave.

Odette raised a middle finger behind her as she disappeared into the low lit crowd.

* * *

She'd found him in a backroom of sorts. Away from the blaring music on stage, the room was much quieter, despite only being closed off by thin curtains. The blue and purple lights of the club were behind her. The private space more comfortable and inviting with a warm fireplace and low orange lighting. Kate paused in the would be doorway. She was unsure whether to be surprised or not that he wasn't alone.

A woman rolled her hips enticingly, dancing atop of him in fluid, graceful movements that seemed more like an actual dancer than the crass strippers littered around the bar.

Kate crossed her arms, uncomfortable for intruding but too desperate to back out now. Richie's blue eyes left the woman as soon as he spotted company. "That's enough." He told the dancer. "Get up." He braced her seductive hips with his hands, stilling them as he gently pushed her. She removed herself from his lap, and upon seeing Kate gave an indignant sneer and left.

Though she shouldn't, Kate actually felt a bit more comfortable when they were left alone.

"What do you want, Kate?" Richard cut to the chase with a sigh. He leaned back against the couch, making himself comfortable as he crossed one leg and stretched his arm over the back.

Kate daringly stepped closer. "I need you're help."

"With what?"

Richard's head turned when she eagerly took a seat beside him. Her shoulder brushing against his arm as she turned to face him. "I need you to get us out of here."

Richard shook his head. "I'm sorry. It's not up to me."

"You don't need us. You're here to make some _stupid_ deal."

"It's Seth's deal." He tried to explain.

"So, let us go!" Kate tried to reason. "I mean, all you have to do is get the keys from him." Richard turned away, clearly considering it. "Richie-" She tried again.

"I don't want you to leave." He confessed. It silenced her. "I want you to see this place for what it really is. I want you to _feel_ what I'm feeling." His body tilted closer to her. His tone soften when she didn't move away. "You said that you were lost." He brought back her words from the pool. "I was alone, too, and when I had nothing left, she found me. She called to me, and she led me here."

Kate looked from one eye to another, confused by the _'she'_ he kept mentioning but unwilling to question him.

"You said that your life was upside down." Both their minds drifted to the conversation by the pool. "Well, _maybe_ this is where you're really supposed to be."

Kate's brows furrowed in doubt. "But-" She peeked over she shoulder, peeking past the curtains into the lively and nefarious club. "How could I belong here? I mean, _look_ at this place." Her eyes spotted a dancer shimmying her bottom in, what she assumed to be, a seductive manner as she took off her bra. Kate turned her gaze away when she began showing her flexibility to the group of men surrounding her.

"You're not looking close enough." Richie brushed hair away from her face, tucking it behind her ear. "Under the surface, it's really beautiful." His eyes implored her to see the truth that he saw.

But she just couldn't. "I don't see it." She admitted in a quieter voice. Her cheek felt warm as his hand fell away.

With a slight hint of a smile, he appeared almost boyish behind his glasses. "It's because you aren't looking close enough." A far cry from the cold cunning man who'd repeatedly threatened her family's lives. For a moment, Kate believed he might be right.

* * *

"Where's Kate?" Ettie asked the Fuller men when she arrived back at the table. She had assumed when she told her to leave she knew she meant back to their father.

"I don't see her." Her father helped her search the club. "She went to find Richie."

"She what?" Ettie nearly shrieked.

"She wouldn't leave without us." Scott spoke up, the gruffness to his words drawing his sister's attention.

"Are you _drinking_?!" She asked incredulously, picking up the bottle as Scott down a shot. The ease of which he now managed making her gape. "You have a borderline alcoholic father. A druggie sister. And yet you still think it's a good idea to start your binge drinking career during our kidnapping?!" She was livid.

"Not like I inherited it." He dismissed her worries.

Ettie slapped the back of his head none to gently. "Not the point!" She turned around placing the nearly empty bottle on a stranger's table.

"That's enough." Jacob put his hands up stopping the argument he could sense forming. "Listen to me." He demanded his children's attention. "This whole day has been a horrible mistake. We've been on edge since we've come across those bastards. And because we're all still reeling from the loss of your mother, I said it was judgment, but I was wrong. It's just bad luck. All this talk about judgment? Don't you pay it no mind."

"But it is true." Scott interrupted. "The border-patrol agent told me as much."

Ettie observed her brother with concern. "What are you talking about?"

Scott looked at his now empty shot glass trying to remember exactly what happened. He found no reason for him to know the things he knew about them. "He knew things about us, _about me._ " He turned to Ettie. "I don't think today is a mistake. I think it's all happening for a reason." He confessed.

"Get up." Jacob stopped the nonsense. He grabbed his son under the arm, pulling him to his feet.

"What? Why?" Scott became fearful he'd pushed the line to far.

"'Cause I'm gonna get us out of here."

He lead his children to the bar where he approached a man getting up to leave. Unlike most of the occupants he was Jacob's age, leatherless, and relatively harmless looking. "Could-could I help you, friend?" He was soft spoken with a simple drawl, his eyes gawking over the three as if afraid they were trouble.

"Are you heading out?"

"Yes, sir. Just rolled my last number for the road. This really ain't my scene."

"Yeah, I hear you on that."

"It's _lonely_ at night. I spied that that fire. It's like a beacon. So I pull over, holed up for a while." He glanced at the dancers without much interest. "But I guess it's time for me to go."

"Well, sir, could-could I impose on you for a lift back to Texas? I can pay you." Jacob offered.

He seemed to be contemplating it looked over them before his eyes settled on Scott. He leaned closer to Jacob, dropping his voice. "Listen, friend I'd be willing to give you a lift. If you'd be willing to share." He glanced at Scott again. "We got a deal?"

Realizing the implication Jacob grew disgusted and infuriated. "That's my _son_."

The man appeared unbothered. His eyebrows rose coyly. His smile predatory. He leaned towards Jacob, whispering in his ears with glee. "I like them young, too." He nearly giggled.

Jacob stepped back, sneering at the man but was stopped by his son. "Dad." They both noticed the gun holstered at the bastard's hip.

"Now how about we talk that _payment-_ " The bastard reached to caress Scott's cheek.

Odette didn't know why but since entering the bar she's felt she'd been on a sharper edge. Maybe it was the itch in her veins. Maybe it was just anger. Or maybe it was fear finally settling in at the idea this night would never end. Whatever it was it was, it felt like a tightly pulled rubber band. And it could only be stretched so far.

And seeing that hand reach for her brother, it snapped.

Odette grabbed the extended arm twisting it as she used his own weight against him. She pinned him to the bar. Uncaring of the consequences. He gave a pathetic whine in shock and pain. Around them, no one looked twice. "I have been kidnapped, pushed around, and treated like a fucking prisoner day all fucking day. I am _not_ to be _fucked with_ tonight." She sneered in his ear the way he's giggled in her father's. "Leave. Now." Pushing off him she watched as his hand went to his gun. Jacob pushed Scott back, ready to beg for no trouble. But Odette stood her grown, a sudden energy of danger around her as she stared the bastard down. He thought twice. He turned and scurried away.

Jacob stared at his daughter in worried wonder.

Her expression remained hardened but her eyes soften. "Look at me. Scott, look at me." She ordered her brother, quickly sobering. "We are here because I did what I do best. I screwed up." She admitted. "I made the wrong call, I picked the wrong hotel. Now I'm gonna do what I do second-best." She declared. "I'm gonna get us out of it." She promised. "Stay here."

"Where are you going?!" Her father asked.

"I'm finding Kate. I am _getting_ those keys. And we are leaving this shit-hole once and for all!" She declared with a rising passion as she left.

He watched his daughter slip into the crowd of bikers, strippers, and drunks. Her posture rigid and her goal set, she parted the crowd with her hell hath no fury stride.

Even as a child she'd never been afraid of the dark. The unknown. The uncertainty.

Nor was she afraid of what awaited her there.

 _But sometimes…_ sometimes he'd wish she had been.

"God protect that girl." Knowing her, the time would soon come when she'd need it.

* * *

"What does it feel like?"

"What does _what_ feel like?"

"To know that you-" Kate licked her lips, trying to find the words. "To know that you belong, really?"

Richie answered honestly. "It feels like home." It was one of the first times he used the word with meaning since he was a child.

 _Home_ , Kate thought wistfully picturing their two story house. She missed home more than anything. Not the house. But the people in it. The people who'd made it. From the slashes on the kitchen doorway where her mother had measured their growing height, to the crooked mailbox Scott had ran into learning to drive. She missed the sound of the squeaky stair that seemed to exist for the sole purpose of catching Odette sneaking in. And the smell of her father barbecuing out back. She missed being able to close her eyes and just listen to the sound of them laughing in the kitchen. Or even arguing from the top of the stairs…

She'd welcome back all the bad parts if it meant keeping just a few of the good.

She wanted to go home. But she had to bring the key parts, at least what remained of them, back with her.

" _Please._ " Kate begged, closing the space between them. "Please let us go. Just let us go." She pressed her lips to his, surprised by the feeling it gave her. She pulled away after a few moments. Looking into his light blue eyes, the words spilled from her mouth. " _Set me free._ "

The choice of words seemed to resonate with Richie. His mouth fell open in an attempt to form words. His eyes narrowed in confusion. "Why did you say that?" He asked breathily.

Kate gave a subtle shake of her head, unsure why the choice of words came out of her mouth.

It was Richard who advanced this time, pressing his lips to hers with the same softness she had to his.

The sound of footsteps on the stone floor broke her haze. Pulling away she looked at Richie with shock at what they'd done. "Oh my god." She touched her lips, feeling how they tingled. A shadow entered her peripheral vision. When she spotted Seth's unreadable expression in the doorway, she blanched.

"Preacher's daughters strike again." Seth cocked his head to the side. It seems he'd underestimated everyone in this family. Who knew Kate could play them as well as her sister...

"Kate?" Richard called for her when she suddenly stood. Pushing past Seth, the teen fled.

"This is what you've been doing?" Seth gave his brother a hard disapproving glare. "Playing _"You show me yours, I'll show you mine,"_ huh?" Seth scoffed when Richard passed him to run after her.

"Kate?" Richard called for her again following after.

"Richie, will you listen to me, God damn it?!" Seth's voice rose from both anger and necessity as the music picked up once more.

"Don't even start. I'm not leaving." Richard continued to search for Kate, his height doing little to spot her shorter frame between bodies.

"Yeah, look, I'm sure there's another titty bar somewhere else in this goddamn country, all right?" Seth tried to bargain. " I'll get you a V.I.P. card and a couple of girls just shy of their Quinceañera." He joked as he grabbed Richard's arm.

It was the last straw. Picking up one of throwing knives from the table they passed, he turned on his brother. Blade to throat, Seth was knocked back against the table. "I'm your goddamn _brother_ , and you treat me like I'm the ugly stepkid in the attic." Richard seethed above him. He was tired of being ignored, if not ignored then mocked, and if not mocked treated like he was a fucking kid. "If I say we stay, _we stay_ , and that's it."

Seth glanced from his unhinged brother to the knife at his throat and idea coming to pass. He huffed, trying to steady his breathing. "Why don't we throw for it?" He suggested. When Richard relaxed his grip, Seth pushed him away and straightened to his full height. "Let the knives decide like old times, yeah?" Seth licked his lips, making one last attempt. "I win, we walk. You win, we stay."

Richard didn't even think about it. He twirled the knife in his hand with a grace he hadn't had since Seth'd gone in. It would be an easy win compared to his rusty brother. "Deal."

* * *

"Turn around." Ettie ordered when she spotted her sister coming her direction. She didn't slow in her quick steps.

"What?" Kate was caught off guard once more when her sister seemed to emerge from nowhere, clearly on a warpath.

"Turn around." She instructed as she passed. Kate spun on her heel and quickly followed. "We're getting those keys and we're leaving." She was playing this game.

They came across the brother in the middle of a game of their own. Richard threw his knife, the silver blade nicking the hand of the girl who held the bullseye. "Ow!" She dropped the paper board, shaking her hand. With a displeased sneer she walked off.

"Real smooth, Richard." Seth taunted. Picking up the knife, he sniffed and stretched his jaw. "Okay." He whispered to himself. Finding his aim, he put his full focus into the should be friendly game. With a fluid movement of arm and wrist, the knife spun through the air, landing soundly in the eye socket of the wood carving wall. The observing crowd cheered. "Your move, brother."

"Why don't we make it interesting?" Ettie demanded the boys attention as she stepped between them. Kate continued passed, with little time to be questioned she picked up the board and held it above her head.

"What are you doing?" Seth scoffed at the young girl. " _What is she doing?!_ " He turned to Odette, equally as puzzled at what she was trying to pull but much better at hiding it.

Kate steeled herself as she stared them down. She had tried it her way but her polite request had gotten her nowhere. So now she was gonna try it a different way. Ettie's way. She had faith god would protect her. She had faith Richie wouldn't hurt her. In her mind, little could go wrong.

"Richie wins, you give her the keys and let us go." Kate bargained. She shifted on her feet getting comfortable to stand as still as she possibly could.

"And if he loses?" Seth challenged.

"Well, then, I guess I'm stuck here. Literally."

Seth turned to Odette for an explanation. "Oh _now_ you're silent." He criticized the previously protective sister. "No way." He shook his head. "I'm not doing this." He was risking putting a knife in that girl.

"Well, you don't really have a choice. Play or forfeit and hand over the keys." Ettie stretched her hand out. A demanding and awaiting expression mared her face as her fingers waved in a beckoning motion.

Seth stared at the hand, contemplating the offer before looking to the girl. He shrugged and stared at Ettie. He'd call her bluff. "It's her eyeball." He waited or her to back out.

To his dismay she didn't. She walked over to her sister, lowering her voice as her stare burned into her. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"We have to get those keys, right?"

"Right! But this is not - Kate you can't."

"You're just mad because it's something you would have done. You're just pissed for once I stepped up first."

"Well step down." Ettie clipped. "Give me the board. I'll do it then."

"I can't." Kate shook her head. "I know Richie won't hurt me." Ettie laughed at that, the logic stunning her. "You can laugh all you want, but… he cares." She paused, realizing she couldn't tell her about the kiss. _Kisses, plural._ Kate realized. Her cheeks felt warmer. "He doesn't want to hurt us. _Me._ " She corrected at Ettie's disbelieving glower. "I just...trust me?" Kate pleaded

Ettie sighed, defeated. She covered her face with her hands, trying to calm down this feeling inside her. Her hands fell away from her hardened face. "If you die, I'm going to _kill_ you. If you live, I'm going to _kiss you_ , _then_ kill you!" She hissed.

Kate gave a flash of an understanding smile. Odette could do nothing else as she stepped aside.

Richard picked up the knife, balancing it in his hand as he tried to get a feel for it. The bartender muscled his way through the crowd. "You need to try this one." He presented Richie with an object he never thought he'd see again.

"Thank you." He took the white carved bone. Holding it in his hand he felt the black obsidian blade flick open.

Seth did a double take, clearly alarmed. He'd left that knife in a gas station in Texas. A gas station that had undoubtedly burned to the trucking ground. "Where did you get that?" The black eye carved into the polished wood mocked him. The same symbol that had been haunting them all day.

 _Eyes find eyes,_ he heard Richard day in his head as he stared at the ocular carving.

"He just gave it to me."

"No, the-the first time." He clarified. "Where did you get it the first time?"

"I told you. I won it in a contest." Richard's grip tightened on the unusual blade. It fit perfectly in his hand, as if it belonged.

"From who?!"

Richie gave a smug smile, overlooking the urgency on his brother's face. "Don't worry about it, bro, 'cause you're about to go down."

Ettie held her breath as he readied his throw. The blade gave a smooth swish through the hair before landing with a thunk in the wood. Odette's eyes opened. A clear slit through the center of the bulls-eye.

" _Keys_!" She wasted not a moment before she demanded of Seth. "Game's over."

With pure reluctance, Seth pulled the keys from his suit jacket's inner pocket. Ettie's hand clutched the dangling metal but found when she tried to take them she was met with resistance. She looked to Seth, unamused with his attempt before he let the ring be slid off his finger. "It's been fun, Xena."

"Yeah. Great date. We should do it again sometime." She jeered. She spun the keys around her own finger, getting more satisfaction than she thought possible at the cold metal against her hand.

She kept the keys clutched in a white knuckle grip as she came to her sister's side. "You okay?" She examined her out of habit even though she knew the knife hadn't so much as even grazed her. Kate nodded, wondering if this thundering in her heart and the buzz in her veins was something Ettie was accustomed too. If this is what she felt, she understood why her sister was so careless. It was invigorating in a roller-coast, makes-you-want-to-barf kinda way.

"That's great." Ettie put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Because when we're a ten miles gone, I'm going to kill you." She pushed her younger sister in the direction of the door. "And for the record: Don't try to be like me Kate. Speaking from first hand experience here, it does you no favors." She sighed.

"The show's about to start." The bartender urged when they tried to pass. "You need to sit down."

"We'll catch the next one." Odette tried to step around him.

" _Now._ " His suggestion became an threatening order.

Kate looked to her sister, seeing Ettie's eyes roam the bar. When they settled on their father and brother already at a table, they gave a surrendering sigh.

"What's ten more minutes." She mused to Kate. The two quickly joined their family at the end of a row of tables. Seth sat beside Kate while Richie rounded out the almost catwalk like row of tables at the end.

"Richie, answer the question. Who gave you the knife?" Odette watched Seth pester his brother across from her. Under the table she quietly undid the RV key from the loop.

"What does it matter? It was some guy." Richie brushed it off.

But Seth had no interest in letting it go. "Yeah, who?"

All the lights dimmed as the spotlights converged on the stage. Under the table Ettie slipped the RV into the tight pocket of her jeans.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the time has come! Please take your seats." All direction was refocused to the man on stage. Ettie's brows furrowed as a familiar feeling breezed past her. A combination of discomfort and recognition. He was classically handsome with his dark eyes, golden brown skin, and an easy calm to his fluid accent. "Welcome to the Titty Twister. We have a special performance, for tonight Is a very, very special night." He glimpsed the crowd, stopping at the Gecko and Fuller sister's table.

"That's him." Richie suddenly spoke.

"What?" Ettie and Seth both turned to him in question.

"That's him. That's the guy who gave me the knife." Odette looked to Seth, her brow raising in question at the strange answer to a conversation she'd only heard the end off. Still, for some reason Odette felt on edge. A shiver went up her spine.

 _Something was coming._ Her mind whispered. Ettie had enough experience to know whatever it was, was nothing but trouble.

And trouble had a name.

"Please welcome the mistress of the macabre. The queen of the night: _Santanico Pandemonium!_ "

* * *

 **Please Review :)**

 **Thank you to all the reviewers and new favors / followers! You're encouragement means the world! **

**Sorry this took so long but this chapter is by far my longest, and so far my favorite but I'd really love to hear your opinions. I'm sorry there's not much wiggle room in the first season but most of it is rather important. It gets more original / expansive in season 2. Until then will you just hang in there with me? :)**

 **PS: For the record I have no plans of my own for the Richie/Kisa/Kate thing, I just go based off what I see in the episode. If you have a preference of how I should lean feel free to share.  
**


	7. 1x07 ※ O'Brother

_***This chapter has multiple references to past chapters. Chapter is mostly canon but sorry, not a whole lot of wiggle room in this episode. Upside: read for the little Ettie/Seth moments hidden inside. Also, it's been like half a year since I update so give me time to get back into Ettie and Seth's groove, please. :) Thanks, sorry for the note.***_

-:BTWD:-

* * *

We're gonna die  
It's just a matter of time  
Hard times come  
Good times go  
I'm either gone in an instant  
Or here 'til the bitter end  
I, I never know  
What I've got will make you feel more alive  
I'll be your favorite drug, I will get you high

Fall Out Boy : Death Valley

* * *

 **Bless This Wayward Daughter**

 **Pandemonium**

 _ **O' Brother  
**_

* * *

"Please welcome the mistress of the macabre. The queen of the night... Santanico Pandemonium!" Carlos sang.

She seemed to emerge from nowhere. Standing under the stage lights, she paused for a moment as the audience settled before shedding her cape. A sudden bout of flaws combusted from the floor on either side of her.

It was easy to see why she was the main attraction. Even in her dark makeup and sleazy getup, there was an inarguable beauty to her features. The heart-shaped face and full lips red painted lips rested below large brown eyes surrounded by unfairly long lashes. It was rare to find a woman that could be both sultry and sweet looking. And with a hooded gaze, she easily shifted between them. Pretty, like a prized jewel, she seemed to shine under their attention.

The spotlights seeming to enhance the tawny brown tone of her skin, making it glimmer like gold, rather than wash it out. Every curve of her sinfully perfect body was covered in perfect unblemished skin. Slowly, her full hips began a sensual sway rolling over her body as she used her figure as a finger to beckon men's, and even the woman's, attention. There was something about her, beyond just her looks that demanded attention. There was an air of danger around her, the kind of beauty that could ruin a man.

It wasn't _lust_ that had enchanted Ettie, but a feeling of strange alertness. Deep down inside her bones something primal warned her not to look away. Across from her, Kate gave a helpless look, confused and a bit disgusted by the fact every member of her family seemed to be watching the lustful act as if another Friday night movie at home.

In a show of magic and mystery, a snake had appeared around her shoulder, slithering around her collar bones and breasts in its own dance. It caressed the skin in the same way a lover's touch might, doing what most of the audience so desperately wanted to do. The club broke out in a loud cheer, applauding the surprise. Whistles and cat-calls broke through the cheers as individuals began beginning for her attention. They were all in vain as her dark eyes, narrowed into a sultry gaze, remained focused on the form in front of her. Only one man seemed to have caught her interest.

"She's _real_." Richie breathed, unable to look away from her heated gaze. His eyes didn't wander to her nearly nude form, or even the snake slithering down her body and between her legs. No, his gaze was utterly, and undoubtedly, fixed on her eyes, unable to look away as he was pulled in, deeper than most under her spell.

The spotlight left the stage, traveling over the runways of tables before settling on the area behind Richie. Santanico standing in as if she'd been there all along. The club began to murmur in surprise, doing a double-take to the stage to confirm it wasn't a well-placed set of twins. It was not.

Seth looked visibly disturbed, leaning away and into Odette and he cursed under his breath. He hated magic shows for this reason.

As quickly as she left, she returned. The spotlight traveled back to the stage, Santanico moving with it. The crowd hooted and hollered. This by far was the sexiest magic show any of them had seen.

Tossing the small feathered headdress away, she shook her mane of thick, silky smooth hair. A mix of dark brown and light red, it seemed to shimmer and glow like the rest of her. And just like the rest of her, it begged to be touched. Santanico ran her hand through her hair to display just that. The magic show was over, the seduction began. She wrapped one a leg around the pole...

"It's her." Richard breathed once more. He was entranced.

Ettie dared to look away from the seductress.

"Who?" Seth asked.

"You can see her, too?" He looked genuinely surprised.

"What?" Seth asked, brows furrowed and perplexed by his brother's surprise.

Richie looked almost adoringly at her as she spun around the pole. "That's the girl that led me here." He became more confident knowing it wasn't in his head. He looked at her with open lust.

She walked down her make-shift runway, gracefully stepping over the tables that lead to their own at the end. She stopped in the center of their table. Ettie leaned away from her, stretching out her arm to keep Scott from leaning in further towards her. He looked embarrassed as she tried to pretend he wasn't staring at her bare ass.

Bending at her knees, Santanico crouched down, stealing the bottle of tequila before raising her leg. She placed her pointed foot before Richard's face, keeping that intense, albeit uncomfortable eye contact as she poured the alcohol down her leg. It dripped off her toes, straight into Richards parted mouth.

It was like seeing a car crash, wanting desperately to look away but unable to as Richard allowed the stripper's toes to be placed in his mouth. They gently brushed his bottom lip as she removed her foot. A sick kiss, if Ettie had to describe it. The most affection she was willing to allow. To further show off, Santanico raised her own leg parallel with her body, showing her flexibility as she licked the tequila-drenched skin herself.

Ettie looked to Kate, both equally disgusted and confused. Neither daring to look at their father or brother. But Kate went in a different direction. The young girl looked to Richard and then Santanico, disbelieving, and looking almost hurt, at having to watch the display.

The stripper seductively swung her curvy hips to the system of the low, soulful Spanish ballad as the violin played. She drank from the tequila bottle, before placing it back. Just when they thought it was over, it took yet another unhygienic turn. Lowering to her hands and knees, Santanico crawled to Richie, letting the mouthful of alcohol fall from her mouth, into his.

It broke the trance. Kate's mouth visibly unhinged, gaping at the dancer as she rose and continued her routine. Kate could only manage a soft 'Ew.'

The music picked up as Santanico's hips swung faster and wilder, her hair flipping in an almost unnaturally fluid movement as she kept with the building tempo. The climax ended, (a poor choice of words given the state of some of the men in the crowd…) and Santanico strutted back to her stage, giving Richie a final come-hither wave.

Seth looked at his brother in shock as he rose to his feet, intent on actually following her.

"Richard," Seth called in a low scolding. He didn't need trouble with these people just because he got the hots for the main talent.

Richard was in a trance, and couldn't be stopped. His only thought going to the woman of his dream, and on occasion, nightmares.

But reality came crashing hard. A figure emerged from the dimly lit crowd, at their side before they even saw him.

Intense, fiery pain broke him of her spell.

A knife was stabbed through the center of Richard injured hand, pinning it to the table as he fell back to his seat. He gritted his teeth under the scream of pain. The commission drew the attention of more than just the tables occupants. Katie gave a surprised scream as Santanico stopped her retreat to witness the interruption.

"This is for Earl." The Ranger from the hotel put the gun to Richard's hand.

Seth stood, his own weapon drawn just as quickly. "He dies, you die."

The band never stopped playing, forcing the men to yell over the music. Below the guitars and violins, a slow rumble began to rise from around the room. Indistinct at first, it hissed and growled like an animal drawing closer. Ettie stood slowly from her chair, looking at the back of Seth's head and the tequila bottle in reach. It might very well be the chance they were looking for…

The Ranger pulled another gun from his holster, pointing it back at Seth. It seemed the term 'Mexican standoff' was more than aptly applied.

Amidst the tension, the Ranger looked to Odette, seeming to note how her hand stretched to the bottle on the table. His lip flinched a smirk, encouraging her to do it. They'd never know if she'd gone through with it or not, as an inhuman growl ripped through the music. Before they could even see what had caused it, Santanico was running down the stage. She moved like a lethal blur, tackling the Ranger away from her chosen one.

" _Sweet Jesus_!" Richie gasped as he pulled the knife out, first having to wiggle it to dislodge it from the wood before pulling it out of his hand. The old bandages tinted with brighter, fresher blood.

Seth turned, pointing the gun at Odette's head as her fingers skimmed the glass bottle. "Are you fuckin' _kidding me_?" He looked insulted as she stopped her attempts. This may have been a vacation for the outlaws but it was still a hostage situation on their end. To be fair, if he'd given her the keys per the agreement, now twice ignored, she wouldn't have had to resort to violence.

Their own dispute was put on hold as the stripper was pulled off the ranger, her hisses drawing their attention. Their eyes narrowed and widened, the occupants that could see thoroughly terrified if not disgusted by the fact Santanico now had scales, fangs, and claws. The left hand of which easily ripped through a woman's neck as she tried to intervene.

The spill of blood was all it took for the club to erupt in utter chaos, more and more of the scantily clad women turning into monsters as they pounced on anyone they could. Carnage and blood soaking the wood floors as the free-for-all began. The music grew louder, only egging them on as they attacked.

"What the hell kind of floor show is this?" Seth put his back to Richard's turning around to keep from being pounced on. As they turned, he caught sight of the family. "Get under the table!" He ordered them. "Xena! Table!" He turned back to the crowd, checking his gone once more as he observed the frenzied mob.

Jacob stood, frozen in disbelief at the hell that spilt out around them. Whatever judgment he thought God was passing, it seemed clear they hadn't come out on the right side. His face dropped in horror, blue eyes wide and unmoving as he stared.

He heard a mumbling of words far off and half slurred. He saw his daughter stand before him instructing his view as she stared into his eyes. He didn't understand what was happening around him but he felt himself fall to his knees under his daughter's light push, following her under the table.

"Daddy, they're everywhere!" Kate cried, looking from one spot to the next, each met with violence or pure bloodshed. What violence she had witnessed that afternoon, was nothing compared to this. She closed her eyes, clinging to the table leg as she wished the sounds away. In-between screams, she could still hear that crushing _thud_ of the bullet entering the deputies chest. _It was too much. It was all too much..._

"We can't stay here." Scott watched as they picked off the occupants one by one. Eventually, the chaos would calm, and there'd be no one to distract from the sitting Fuller ducks under the table. What was thought to be a rough bar fight had descended into something plain _ungodly_.

"We need to move. Now." Ettie agreed, seeing one mostly empty corner of the bar. It might be an exit, if not at least a place they could run to find one. Whatever it was, it was away from the center of the melee they'd found himself in the center of.

"No. No." Katie shook her head, afraid to leave the small safety they found. She clung to the table leg with a white-knuckle grip. Finally, she broke under the stress of the day. At this point, Ettie couldn't even blame her.

"Katie-cakes, we gotta move, please sweetheart." Jacob coaxed the girl, finding his voice at the sight of his baby girl in such distress. He watched as a tear escaped her eye, a choking sob forcing its way out that of her throat that reminded him of when she was a little(er) girl. His broken heart snapped him from his shock.

"Let's go. Let's go!" Scott watched as the last of the monsters joined a pile of what could only be described as feasting, leaving the back completely free. It was there only window, and it was rapidly closing.

"Hey!" Ettie called for her sister's attention. She extended her hand, holding it out with shocking steadiness. "I got you, kid. I promise." She looked into Kate's eyes, letting them say what she didn't have time to. With a frightened squeak, Kate let go of the table, taking her hand and being near dragged out from under the table as they took off across the club.

"Dad! Go, go, go!" Scott ushered their father to move faster as the club quickly devolved into more carnage than people. Ettie kept her sister's hand firmly clenched in hers, pulling her along as they tried behind the bar, searching for the door behind the thick curtains. Odette nearly whimpered as she came in contact with cold metal, pulling the heavy fabric aside to show they had been caged in. She and Kate looked around and above finding similar structures having fallen on the other hallways and windows. They were trapped.

"What do we do? What do we do?" Kate grabbed her sister's hand with both of her smaller ones, desperate for her to miraculously find a way out. Her sister always found trouble, but one way or another she found her way out it.

"Get down! Get down!" Ettie instructed. She herded them to the table beside the door, keeping close to the stone wall. Jacob cleared the table, placing it on its side to create a barrier between themselves and the demons that descended upon them. For a moment Jacob wondered if he was wrong. He truly believed god's wrath was descending upon them, punishing them for their sins and transgressions. Would god punish his children for his own misdeeds?

"The shotgun." Scott pointed to the only chance of defense. Jacob looked to his side to see said item left neglected in the middle of the floor. He crawled, trying to reach for it.

"Daddy, _no_!" Kate pulled him back as they were caught.

On the other side of the table, one of the fanged creatures popped up in surprise. She let her clawed hands wrap around the wood edge, displaying her razor sharp fingernails. The claws scratched deeply into the wood in warning. She stared at her food in an almost playful manner as she hissed. Kate screamed, her father desperately held up the only weapon he had. His cross.

He silently prayed, if not for himself than for the souls and safety of his children.

The cross did nothing. It simply elicited a curious sneer from the monster.

"Is that supposed to work? Why isn't it working?" Scott was frantic.

Their scaled creature flicked her forked tongue against the wood, testing its taste before chomping on it, swallowing it nearly whole after a few crunches.

With her reality crumbling around her, Kate turned to the one thing she knew. Prayer. "Our Lord who art in heaven, hallowed be your Name." She put her hands over her ears, burrowing into her father's side as she prayed with eyes closed. She prayed it all away. "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth-"

"Ain't no use in praying now," Jacob said motionless. He accepted his fate, closing his eyes and wrapping his arms around his frightened daughter.

The other Fuller's weren't so resigned.

"Do something! Do something!" Scott begged his sister. Ettie steeled herself, hoping the exposure would be worth it if Scott could get around their father and sister and to that gun. She motioned 'three' with her fingers, Scott understanding and at the ready. Ettie squeezed herself against the wall, bracing her feet on the wood. When the countdown was done, she pushed with all her might. "Move!" Ettie ordered as they became exposed. The wooden table had skidded against the floor, knocking the monster back and giving Scott the room he needed to skitter around them and dive for the sawn-off shotgun.

It was only a few second window. The bloodthirsty beast jumping back and baring her fangs a moment later. But it was all the time he needed. Scott fired the shotgun without a second thought.

What was once a head, exploded like a water balloon, spraying those around it with blood and shards of bone.

"Give ourselves our daily bread-" Kate gasped as she was hit with some of the spray. "But deliver us from evil." She whined, still too afraid to open her eyes.

The family went silent. Odette checked on her brother. He remained poised and frozen with the smoking gun still aimed as adrenaline coursed through his veins. A hint of a smile crossed his shocked face. He looked to his sister, seeing her give him a hesitant but proud nod.

Scott stared at the bloody mess, feeling the warm metal in his hand, he couldn't help but think: _That felt really good..._

* * *

The Gecko brothers weren't faring any better across the bar. While they shot hesitantly at first, it soon became easy to empty clip after clip into the bloodthirsty beasts. But with every one they shot it seemed another took its place.

"Richie, talk to me! I got a feeling you know what these things are!" Seth put his back to his brother's as Richie pulled out his knife, his gun now empty.

"No. I've seen them in a vision, but I have no clue what these things are."

" _Puta!_ " Seth turned at the familiar voice seeing his antagonist fanged out, even uglier than he was before. And he'd brought his scaly buddies… "You miss me, mijo?" His forked tongue slithered between his fangs.

Seth cursed his luck, quite vocally. "Shit!"

"Your girl ain't here to save you now." He taunted with a cackle. "Let's dance." He hissed at them, sending his men in first.

His gun near empty, Seth tucked it into his pants, raising his fists in preparation. Amidst the house of horrors, a good old fashioned bar brawl broke out as they exchanged blows and bottles broken over heads. Seth stopped, his attention momentarily falling on the doorman sucking the blood from a fallen biker's neck. Catching him, he hissed warningly, a non-verbal promise he was next before continuing to feed.

"You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say these things are vampires." Their attackers growled, rising for the floor for another round. "Richie!" Seth grabbed his brother by the arm, using the momentum to lift him in the air so he could kick the vampire in the face. Seth used the moments it gave them to swipe a broken chair leg from the floor. He didn't allow it a second thought as he ran forward, implanting it into the asshole's chest. With a painful roar, he cracked and crumbled to ash at Seth's feet.

Well, there was one mystery solved.

"Yeah. Yeah, definitely vampires!" Seth called, out of breath. "Go for the heart." He instructed, ignoring how ridiculous he felt while ordering it.

Seth jumped away when the floor opened up beside him. Around the room, trap doors opened, the dead and living falling through, or being kicked into them with no remorse.

The carnage died down and with it the music. Finally, the band ceased, signaling their retreat. "Thank you! Good night!" They fled behind the curtain, the girls following their lead into various passageways and climbing up the walls to escape. With a grim boom, everything sealed behind them once more.

But one still remained, too prideful to leave even when he should.

Seth was taken from the side, the stake in his hand twisted away and tossed the ground. The doorman bared his fangs, hissing at him with a forked tongue. He wasn't ready to give up the fight just yet.

"I thought you were ugly before." Seth backed away, keeping his eyes on the enemy as he felt around for the stake with his foot.

It smiled at him. "Don't worry, chulo. Once I'm done with you, you're gonna look just as pretty as me." He gestured to his scaled face. "And then I'm gonna have fun with that little puta of yours." From between his fangs, his tongue darted out, licking his lips in anticipation. "Sweet, sweet cherry pie."

Seth glanced down, finding the stake angled on the severed leg of what was once a truck-driver. "We'll… she's a feisty one, let me tell ya." He couldn't help but bait. He stomped on the angled stake, flipping it up and into his hand as he was pounced on. The wood hit home in the monster's heart, finishing him off and leaving him to drop to ash at Seth's feet.

"That's your best face yet." Seth picked up the steak from the ash pile.

Across the ways, Richie was finishing his own fight, using his knife to stab one of the vampires. He watched as it turned to ash before turning around.

He froze. The woman, Santanico, seemed to stumble into his line of sight. She wiped her mouth of blood, missing the congealed and crusted fluid staining her chin and neck. Not a woman, he reminded himself, _a monster._..

Richard raised his knife at her.

"It's all right, Richard." She called to him. Richie kept the knife pointed at her chest even as she came closer. "It's _me_." She cooed. Approaching like a long lost lover. "I've been waiting for you."

Richard looked into her brown eyes, feeling his arm lower without his consent. His mouth parted as if expecting a kiss.

Santanico instead, hissed.

Seth stepped beside his brother, not hesitating to shoot at her. Richard flinched as she quickly turned away, shifting into her monstrous form and releasing a pained, furious growl at the offense.

" _Stop!_ " He rounded on his brother when he fired again, this time hitting her stomach. As they distracted each other, Santanico slid away. She disappeared behind one of the many corridors, leaving them alone at last. "Why did you do that?!"

"Because she's a goddamn _monster_!" Seth yelled back. His handsome face relaxed even though his hooded eyes were livid. He put the gun to his brother's nose, regarding him with new suspicion. "Now you answer me this: Why has she been _waiting_ for you?" Richard's eyes crossed attempting to look at the gun pointed between them. "Answer the question," Seth ordered.

Richard slapped the weapon away from his face. "Get that gun outta my face."

"Says the guy who _put a knife_ to my neck." Seth bitterly reminded him. He returned the favor, positioning it at Richard's throat this time. "You know, all this time I thought _I_ was the one that brought us here, that _I_ did the deal with Carlos…" Seth smiled in fake cheer, darkly amused at the betrayal. "Turns out, you've been a part of this club before I even knew it existed." He lost all sign of amusement. He stared at his brother accusingly.

"Are you kidding me right now?" Richard's volume grew. "After everything I've done for you?! Sonny doesn't betray Michael, Seth. That was Fredo!"

"Then explain the knife." Seth pointed the gun briefly to the ground in well practiced, but thoughtless habit. It was one thing to motion with your hands. It was another when a gun was usually in them...

"It's _a blade_ , it cuts things!" Richie flashed the knife sarcastically.

"I ditched it at a liquor store hundreds of miles from here, and it _still_ found its way back to you. Now it turns out _Carlos_ is the guys who gave it to you in the first place?" Seth's brows furrowed deep on his forehead. If it wasn't for the fact he'd done and witnessed it himself, he wouldn't believe it.

"Now you're twisting things around!"

"Well, then set me straight!" Seth's voice was almost hoarse with his shouting, the emotions he refused to show threatening to come out at the idea his brother was someone how involved in this. What he did to that woman in texas was one thing… but Richie was a part of this and brought him into it… Well, Seth wasn't sure he could forgive that.

"Hey!" Odette called their attention, stepping onto the stage beside them with surprising grace. "Shut it!" She ordered.

Seth's brows rose in surprise, not liking the authority she seemed to think she held here. Sadly for him, the playing field had been leveled. This was no longer a hostage hierarchy, but a free for all survival game. And they seemed to be losing…

"Will you two quit it?!" Jacob stepped onto the stage beside them, his children in tow. They looked down at the brothers in more way than one. "We don't have time for you to play Cain and Abel. We just got attacked by the devil's legion!"

Seth and Richard spared a sparse narrowed glance at each other. Like true brothers, their urge to murder each other quickly calmed by the bigger picture. Both brothers put their weapons away.

"We need to find a way outta here." Seth agreed. He let his should collide with his brother's as he passed. He studied the thick wood and metal that barricaded the doors. For a moment he looked like he was thinking of some well thought out, bank robbing scheme. Ettie observed with her arms crossed. _Maybe he was putting those safe cracking skills to work…_

Seth fired three shots in quick succession at the locks.

Ettie rolled her eyes. She wandered away, joining her family in trying to look for another entrance or exit.

"Stop! _Stop!_ " Richie ordered him. "It's no use." He stepped up to the door and looked it over. He removed his glasses and rubbed the lenses on his sleeve to get rid of the blood. When he placed them back, his blue eyes took on an intense studious note. He overlooked the door, bottom from top only to silently frown. "Looks like they've got tempered steel deadbolts all the way up and down." There was no getting through that. At Least not with what they had in the bar.

"There's no way out." Ettie stood next to Richard looking at the door wistfully as she summarized the two group's findings.

"We checked everything backstage. There's no windows. There's no corridors. Not even an access to the kitchen." Jacob informed sadly. "This place is sealed up tighter than a drum."

In a sudden flash of frustration, Odette kicked the door out of spite. She slammed her hands against the ancient, yet sturdy, wood and allowed her shoulders to sag and her head to fall as she leaned against the door.

The _worst_ day of her life was shaping up to be quite possibly _last_ day of her life.

"Fuck my luck." She whined quietly wishing she'd just listen to her sister and turned back when they had the chance.

"So we're stuck in here with those whatever they are?" Kate looked fearful as she crossed her arms. Her nails bit into her arm, more anxious than angry as her posture implied.

"Well, why don't you ask Richie what they are. He's seen them before."

"In my _mind_." Richie defended.

Ettie's brows furrowed, straightening to look at the brothers with a renewed confusion. Was no one gonna ask about the 'mind' part?

" _Bullshit._ " Seth pointed his finger accusingly at Richie. "You played me like an 8-track."

"You _knew_ about those things?" Kate's voice wavered. The hurt was clear on her face at the betrayal. Once more Odette had to give her sister a strange look at the emotional reaction. When did they become best-friends? "I _begged_ you to let us go."

"I knew that _something_ was coming, but I didn't know what it was." Richie felt the need to defend himself. Seth pinched the bridge of his nose, wiping his eyes tiredly. "How could I possibly know that everybody in this bar was gonna turn into a-" Richard couldn't find the words so Kate provided them for him.

"They're vampires, aren't they?" She nearly whispered.

"No, I don't believe in vampires." He was quick to rebut.

Seth huffed and spread his arms out challengingly. "Well, neither do _I_ , Richard." Reminding his brother that Richard wasn't one to judge sanity at the moment. "However, setting aside the sheer _absurdity_ of this conversation, they have fangs and they die when you stab them in the heart. So I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say Mexican Dracula."

"Except one of them ate my cross." Jacob debated. If he was going to go with the ridiculous theory, he might as well point out the flaw in it.

"Is this God's judgment, Daddy?" Kate asked quietly.

Her father swallowed, regretting a lot of things tonight, and that conversation being one of them. He should have had faith. If not in God's will than in the unparallelled stubbornness of his own daughter. He looked at Ettie, seeing the determined look on her now hardened features. At this point, he didn't think anything could kill that girl. He deflected the question, and his own guilt, onto Richard...

"Don't ask me. He's the one with the gift of sight, apparently." Jacob glowered at Richie. The taller brother dropped down into a seat. His hand clenched in a fist leaving one middle finger up and pointed as he clenched his jaw and glowered back. A clear threat in his eyes. He'd take his brother's shit as usual, but he wasn't going to start answering to a priest. His father had beat that line of honest living out of them long ago.

It was Scott who gave their answer. His eyes searched the sculptures and faded paintings on the wall, a sense of familiarity coming to him like a spine shivering sense of deja vu as he looked at the scaled faces that littered the floor. "I think they might be Mayan or Aztec or something." He thought aloud.

"Scott." Kate scolded.

"Wait a second, what did you say?" Seth pointed at the boy, demanding he continue. He'd given up on the idea of insane theories. Strippers were growing fangs and eating people. At this point, he was sure any theory was a good theory at this point. He just needed to know what the fuck he had to do or kill to get out of this horror show.

"Given that we're in Mexico and all…" He hesitantly began. "It makes sense that these things might be, like, Mayan or Aztec." He fidgeted under their collective gazes.

"Huh?" Seth asked. He wasn't sure what that had to do with anything.

Scott grew more confident as he looked around. "I mean, those guys always have snakes in their art." The group followed his line of sight. Sure enough finding the same snake-ish images Scott had. "And I read about an ancient race of bloodsucking reptiles! They terrorize people, hunt at the nighttime, tear them apart limb from limb with fangs, and scales, and wings." Seth stared at the boy intently as he rambled off. Suddenly Scott grew still. "Just like frog legs." He whispered in wondered thought.

A beat of silence passed amongst them. " _What_?" Seth shook his head.

"Oh, my God, Scott." Kate realized. "This is from your stupid wrestling magazine, isn't it?"

And just like that, Scott lost all credibility.

"Really, kid?" Seth challenged, annoyed by the misdirection. This was serious, not some stupid comic.

A new voice would come to his rescue.

" _Actually, the kid's not far off._ "

Seth was gun-ready as always. He stepped forward, as it aimed at the surprise survivor.

Sex Machine raised his hands in a calm defense. "Whoa, easy there, Tex." He gestured for him to take a moment to think. "Put down the gun."

Seth's brow jumped in dark amusement. "I should say the same thing to you." He glanced to the weaponized crotch. That was certainly a new one…

Their suprise guest looked to Odette, smiling at her with a nervous grin. "Tell him it's all good, Feisty." He begged. Seth tightened his grip on the gun. He turned his head, to listen for Odette's reassurance.

"Shoot him." She droned, even _less_ amused than Seth at the nickname. Seth raised his brows, at the ready and adjusting his grip like he very well would.

The middle-aged blonde laughed weakly, passing it off as a joke. "Come on now, lady." His previous confident face crumbled into a smiling plea.

Odette sighed and rolled her eyes. "Don't shoot him...yet." She glowered at the creep.

"Who _is_ this person?" Jacob asked, aghast and disgusted. He was always a protective father, but he'd gotten off easy all these years. With such beautiful daughters, it was only their religious status and his position in the church that had kept Jacob from hearing anything but the utmost respect towards his daughters from young men.

"He calls himself _Sex Machine_." Kate felt her own eyes roll. She was so done with this mess.

"Subtle," Richie commented from his seat.

Seth turned to look at the girls. "Excuse me?" Jacob asked, surely having heard wrong.

"He was at the Rattler, too," Kate informed tellingly. Her harasser became almost embarrassed by that fact, backing away as he knew what was sure to follow. "He keeps trying to hit on Ettie and me."

"Is that right?"

"Son of a bi-" Seth raised his gun once more, Jacob and Scott aggressing on the blonde man as well.

Sex Machine took a few quick strides backwards. "Now, hold on a second. The name's Aiden Tanner, Professor Aiden Tanner. I'm undercover as Sex Machine."

"You? You're a Professor?" Kate asked dubiously.

Ettie let out a startling snort sound covering her mouth before the laughter escaped before becoming giggles. She had to turn away, approaching Richie and picking up the tequila bottle from his table. "Of course you are." She chortled. If there was a Mexican Dracula, why not a Professor Cockgun? She took a large drink from the bottle, ignoring her father's disapproving look. She may be an addict, but she was only human. And fuck, she really needed a drink.

"Yeah. Department of archaeology, Alamo State. I was consulting with one ranger Gonzalez about a series of bloody killings along the U.S./Mexico border. And when he left, I realized he was on the trail of something epic." Tanner sighed in delight. "So I decided to follow him, and it brought me here." That delight became regret as he looked around.

"Well, at least _you_ got a choice." Ettie sung, staring at Seth in blame as she wandered back over.

He ignored the pointed gaze. "Yeah. Okay. So what do you mean, the kid's ' _not far off'_?" Seth, once more, absent mindedly pointed the gun in the kid's direction. Ettieexasperatedly grabbed his wrist pushing so her brother was out of its line of fire. Seth didn't even react.

"What I mean is-"

"These are Mexican Dracula." Richie cut to the chase.

"Exactly. Ladies and gentlemen, we are standing in the domain of the Waxaklahun Ubah Kan or Los Culebras, which, in Spanish, means-"

"Serpent." Richard and Odette translated.

Tanner's thunder stolen, he gave a pout. "Yes. Now, I've been studying this cult for over 10 years." He gestured to one of the carvings on the wall. The all seeing eye that seemed to be haunting Seth. "They worship the Vision Serpent. This is their territory. Their glyphs are all over these walls. I mean, I've I've seen their writings before, but never anything like this." He was downright giddy. "We're standing on sacred ground. This place is a source of immense power for these people."

"People?" Seth scoffed.

Tanner gave a coy, knowing look. His left eyebrow raising tantalizingly. "When they want to be..."

They didn't like where this was going.

The Professor pulled a dead culebra by the lapels, lifting him onto the table with Seth's help. The rest of his impromptu class surrounded the table to learn. This wasn't in any of the biology classes, Ettie remembered.

"A lot of what we hear about vampires comes from the Spanish missionaries' misconceptions about these Culebras. They had most of it right, but these puppies are more snake than bat. Check this out." He turned the Culebra's head, tracing the raised and visible veins that spread from the better of the neck. "Venom glands." He explained. "And look at _this_." Tanner pried the mouth open. The sickening moist suction sound making Kate and Seth flinch.

Scott and a few braver ones leaned slower to get a better look. "See the fangs?" Tanner brazenly put his thumbs against them. "Conical in shape. And they fold up against the gums, right?" He pressed down, bending them back before letting them go. The fangs popped back up with a subtle snick. "'Cause they hinge down like a snake."

"That's insane." Scott's sounded both horrified and giddy. Entertained by the notion he had been right. _Typical teenage boy..._

"Yeah. Well, the codices say that these guys are descendants from the mistress, who was a nice young lady that the snake God transformed into a bloodsucking demi-Goddess. Just think succubus."

Seth stiffly rotated his body, directing his hooded tired eyes to Richard. The younger brother looked away.

"But then," Tanner shrugged. "neither she nor these _Culebras_ are supposed to exist."

Seth rolled his neck. "Yeah, well, it's been that kind of day."

The Culebra gives a weak wheezing hiss as its head turned. Clearly it wasn't as dead as they thought.

"We better make sure these things are dead." Seth rearmed himself with the stake. "I mean, really, _really_ dead." He forced the chair leg into the heart, the hissing lasting a second longer before it turned to ash like the rest.

"Makes sense. Destroying the blood organ kills them." The professor and Seth motioned for the rest of them to split apart. "You know what to do."

* * *

"So, this _mistress_... is that Santanico Pandemonium?" Seth questioned the professor. He opened his revolver, refilling the chamber as the survivors regrouped.

"I don't know. Could be. I mean, she sure put the hurt on them bikers, squashed them like they were little cockroaches." He cringed, disgusted at the memory.

"Well, Professor, unlike you, my brother here has had a little field research on the subject." He finished loading the revolver, spinning it closed with a heavy click. "So, how about it, Richie? Why don't you tell us all about your little dancing queen?" He challenged.

"Who is she?" Kate asked.

A storm of emotions passed through Seth as he stared at his brother. Some part of him was grateful his brother wasn't as certifiable as he'd believed. He had a reluctant hope that when they got out of here they could leave this, and their sudden murder spree, behind. The other part of him, a rather large part, was enraged by the fact he'd so blindly let his brother lead him into this mess. The crazy talk and the ploys and the… Seth blinked. He shifted uncomfortably, still put off by the sight that had greeted him in the hotel room.

Richie had always been an odd ball. Seth knew that. But these past twenty-four hours had proven he'd finally cracked that big brilliant head of his. The only question that remained was: Did he lead him into this _knowing_ or unknowingly?

He didn't think he could handle the betrayal if it was the former.

"You told me she _led you_ here." Seth pressed. He remembered the words, despite the passing comment. He was done sweeping his mess under the rug. The promise of El Rey blinding him to what had been unfurling around him all day. Not anymore.

Richard flexed his injured hand, remembering seeing Santanico through it. Remembering her words and the desperation that had lured him in. "She wanted me to set her free." A flurry of whispered words he's once ignored buzzing through his head. His hand twitched, the pain from the combined injures jolted up his arm, bringing him back from the rabbit hole his memory was about to send him on. "By killing her, _I think_."

" _You_ killing _her_ or her killing _us_?" Ettie asked quietly.

Seth looked from his brother to her. Odette, caught his gaze to see the momentary hurt in his eyes at the idea. He quickly turned back to his brother, his stare demanding he answer.

Richard didn't need to look at the rest of them to know their were varying degrees of disgust and betrayal. He swallowed, unable to look towards the burning look that he knew was Kates. "I don't know." He repeated tersely. "I could feel her inside my head, and she was pulling me close. And, _yeah_ , I think it was to this place." He admitted that much. From the moment he saw the old building covered in neon lights, he felt a sense of relief that crossing the border hadn't granted him.

"What do they want?" Jacob spoke, not caring about the ego filled stare off between the brothers. "Knowing that could help us figure a way out of here."

"Maybe us being here pissed them off." Kate theorized.

"Doubt it." Richard shot the theory down. "You seen the signs outside? This entire club is designed to lure people in."

Amidst the desolate desert, the bar stood as a beacon of civilization. The bright neon lights and tower of flames lured in its occupants like a moth to a flame. Too bad it turned out to be one hell of a bug zapper.

"And it keeps them here." Ettie thought aloud. Once more she and Seth exchanged a look. "The car." was all she said. Seth's mouth parted in sickly surprise.

Covered in dust, and unwisely left unlocked admist a host of unsavey characters, what seemed like a strangely dedicated throwback had turned out to be just that. It became very clear to them at that moment the Culebras had been doing this for quite sometime. And they'd been getting away with it.

Seth watched as Ettie's hardened face took on a short lived look of soft vulnerability at the realization no one else had left alive. They probably wouldn't either. It was strange, seeing a fleeting look of sadness on her face. He felt a stab of guilt low in his gut. He may have partook in the shootouts and fire, but if this family died, it would be his kills, not Richie's. He turned away, afraid she might cry. Crying women twisted him up in the worst way, bringing back less than great memories of his mother. He didn't need that shit right now.

Kate looked around the ancient bar, the carved symbols seeming to have more meaning than a tacky theme. "What is this place?" She whimpered.

Professor Tanner placed a hand on the wall, tracing the intricate stone carvings that littered its surface. "Well, from the markings on these walls, I'd say this bar was built on top of a temple like the Spanish conquistadors did with Tenochtitlan."

"Okay, Indy-with-a-cock-gun," Seth waved his gun at the offending appendage, shaking off the twisting feeling of guilt and trying to wrap his mind around the barrage of information. "What kind of temple?"

"The kind where people come and make offerings to the vision serpent."

"Blood offerings?" Kate guessed.

Odette looked to Kate, finding her attention focused to the floor. Below their feet, small cracks between the laid stone worked as a system of canals, collecting the floor spilt throughout the club. Following the burgundy liquid, Kate stopped above a hole in the floor, the rest of the group joining to watch as it drained below.

At least that explained why a 'vampire' would waste so much blood in their frenzy.

"If it's blood that they want They're gonna want more soon." The young girl looked at the blood slowing in its trickle.

"She's right." Tanned pulled a paper flyer from the wall, moving a few items to clear the path of his eyes. "The glyphs are right here on the walls. Ugh, these ancient pre-Mayan cultures are _amazing_ engineers!" He nearly jumped in his excitement. "This isn't just _a bar_ on a temple. This place is a giant people juicer!" He was the only one excited by that new information.

Seth looked back at Richard, visibly swallowing back his sarcastic comment.

" _People juicer_?" Kate repeated, "For who?" her eyebrows rose.

"For _what?_ " Odette corrected. That hardened look of determination returned to her face. She would not be 'people-juiced' and hell if she'd let her family either.

"If this is a feeding, under naturalistic conditions, then their nutritional autonomy might be hierarchical."

"Okay. Okay. English, Professor, please."

"What I mean is, there's a pecking order. One group ravages the herd and sends the prime cuts to the next group. It's like..."

"Hookers feed the pimps, pimps feed the capos, capos feed the bosses." Seth summarized in his own language. "I get it. What I don't get is how do we shut it down?"

"I don't know." He admitted. "I do know who's on the menu, though..."

"Seriously, dude?" Scott scoffed. "You need a Ph.D. to figure that out?"

Tired of his spark being outshined and being cut off, the Professor glowered. "You're one _rude_ little bastard."

Kate grabbed her brother, keeping him from lunging at the dick.

"Wanna try that again?" Odette took a step forward, a warning in her tone that had Tanner back away. The professor looked pleadingly to the pretty-boy, asking him to control his girlfriend.

Seth stood from his seat on the table. "All right. Just relax." He placed a hand on Odette's shoulder, pushing back to keep her from advancing as he disarmed the growing tension. "Everybody take it easy, okay? Now, look, I get that we're all a ragtag bunch of ramblers here." He looked amongst the family and his brother. "But my guess is tonight's not gonna have a Scooby-Doo ending." Kate's eyes fell to the floor, and everyone shifted awkwardly at the unpleasant, but true, words. "So whatever beefs we got, forget them, or else we're all gonna get juiced. Or worse off, end up like the Cisco kid did earlier."

"Yeah, where is ranger Gonzalez?" Tanner looked around the room, remembering the Ranger for the first time. "What happen to him?"

"Forget it. Let's just worry about the next wave." He dismissed.

"We need a plan."

"That's easy." Scott stepped on stage lifting a shotgun in his hand and a wooden stake in the other. "Grab as many guns, knives, and wooden stakes as you can. That way, when those bloodsuckers come back, even if we can't kill them, we will make them wish they were never unborn."

"We're gonna need a better plan than that." Richie dismissed the juvenile bravado.

"You got one?" Seth near dared. Because Richie's plans had ended so well for them today, Seth thought bitterly.

Richard smirked, tilting his head as he saw pieces come together in his head. "It's coming to me."

* * *

The Fullers and Tanner were put to work gathering any gun, knife, and lengthy piece of wood they could. At the bar, Richie and Seth worked on their main line of defense.

Using their knives to open various shotgun shells and bullets, prying open the primer at the end and emptying the gun powder into a group of emptied jars and bottles. Richard paused in their assembly line, turning his attention to breaking apart their cheap disposable phone.

After Kate dropped off another pile of bullets, Seth looked around the room at the blood painted room. He couldn't keep his anger in any longer. "Still can't believe it." He quietly scoffed.

Richie misunderstood the source of his annoyance. "Eh, get over it. We live in a world with Culebras."

"Plan this job, make a deal with Carlos, _I_ keep it together-" His brows rose in self-importance. "-get us all the way across the border for what? To get served up on a goddamn silver platter." He wiggled the sharp blade into the shell, popping it open and pouring the gunpowder into his jar. He picked another bullet, repeating the process like he had the past fifty times.

Richard's eyes lifted to his brow in a restrained roll. He picked up on the ominosity directed at him. Not that his brother was very subtle about it. "Seth." Richie warned. He wasn't in the mood for his shit at the moment, trying to focus on dissecting the phone.

"I mean, was that the plan? Keep the money for yourself, let us get eaten? Hmm?" Seth stabbed into the bullet, nearly losing a finger in the process.

"I didn't have a plan."Richie kindly reminded. "You were in charge, which you reminded me of every five seconds." He defended.

Seth gritted his teeth. He thought he was in charge. Turns out he was being played at every angle. Seth gave a mirthless chuckle. "Thirty-six jobs."

Richard put the phone down, realizing this conversation wouldn't die easy. He braced his clenched hands on the bar, turning his head to look down at his brother. "Thirty- _five_. You did the last one _without me_ , big papa, and it got you tossed in the can." He snidely corrected, reminding his brother why they needed each other.

"Yeah, where I still put this together, and dragged you out of your little unabomber shack. You remember that? Or was that part of the act, too?"

Richard's face scrunched in disbelief, shaking his head in denial as it raised. "Okay. What is this act that you keep talking about?" He stared down at his brother, straightening to his full height. Seth may have been older but Richie has always been taller.

"Greatest long con in history, I guess." Seth mumbled. "You pulled it on me. And I consider myself to be the Picasso of bullshit artists. But you? You painted a goddamn Rivera mural." Seth gave a bitter smile.

"You're so up your own ass right now." Richie gave a halfhearted laugh.

"Yeah, well, I was an easy target. In a million years, I never could have seen this coming."

Richie sniffed, humoring him. "Yeah. Why's that?"

Seth's hand slammed onto the table, throwing the knife to the counter. "Because I'm your _brother_ , Richard!" He turned, facing him full on with a genuine look of cold hatred in his eyes. "I'm your brother." He reaped softer. It used to be the against the world… Now it seemed the whole of the cosmic universe was against him on this miraculously shit day.

"You know, you're right. We have a sacred bond." Richard admitted coldly. He was ready to ask a few questions of his own.

"Yeah, real sacred. Not to you." Seth waved his hand before Richie's face. "Wave twenty million dollars in front of your face, all that goes away, right?"

Richie almost smirked. "Don't you mean sixteen million?"

Seth recoiled, his gut flipping. A forced doubtful expression crossed his features. He shifted away from his brother, tucking tail to run as he resumed his work. "Our take was twenty mil."

"Did you think that I wasn't gonna find out about the missing four million?" Richie said quiety, a thin trace of threat underlying his words. He was the genius, the child prodigy, yet Seth always acted like without him he was an overgrown child, too simple for the world. Well fuck him.

"What are you talking about?" Seth denied.

Richie shifted his feet, going along with this poorly constructed charade. For the Picasso of bullshit artists, he couldn't lie to his own brother for shit. "Okay. Let's imagine the most expensive pineapple burger ever made. 'Cause that is what you went to the Big Kahuna Burger to buy… Am I correct?" He challenged.

Seth bit his tongue, knowing he'd been caught. He'd taken a couple bonds, four million in total, and used the guise of picking up food to meet with his ex wife.

Odette dropped off a new stock of bullets, looking between the brothers with a curious gaze as they stood frozen staring at each other. "Okay." She said softly, taking her leave. Seth watched as she left, giving a quick glance around the bar to make sure no one was listening to their business before tearing into him.

* * *

"Book of revelation didn't prepare you for this." Tanner dropped a pile of wooden legs on the table. "But then I guess you probably chalk this all up to God, huh?"

Jacob continued sharpening the stake into a point, finishing with one before picking up another. "Actually, I blame the Gecko brothers." He looked towards the bar, catching their stand off. He didn't like the way Seth's eyes followed his oldest.

"I wouldn't be so quick to judge. There's an old story about the hero twins Very old story. Xbalanque and Hunahpu. They descend into the underworld, and they best the dark lords. It's in the old book, the sacred book, the Popol Vuh." He cocked the gun he'd found, making sure it was leaded and ready.

"I can't say I've read that one." he admitted.

"I wouldn't imagine you had."

"I got my lord and you got yours. But I believe mine can save us. Trick is to find the light again, share it with those you love before it's too late for all of us." He looked towards his youngest children ahead, Tanner following his gaze. Perhaps he and Ettie couldn't be saved, but they'd done nothing wrong. He'd die giving them a chance, if that's what it took to save them from this darkness that surrounded them.

Scott put down a few sharpened stakes and a machete. With a flourish he slammed it into the side of the table, the hefty blade cutting through the wood like butter before lodging in it. "That will work."

"You al'right?" Kate gave her brother a scrutinizing look as she sorted through bullets. For every one she saved to be fired, she put another to the side to be deconstructed. That and counting was what she was left to do and her siblings scoured the club and scavenged weapons from the dead.

"Yeah" Scott dismissed, missing her concerned gaze as he cracked his knuckles and pulled shotgun pellets from his jacket pocket. "I'd be better if crazy lizard beasts weren't trying to kill us." He mused.

Kate looked at her sister, knowing he'd never admit it in front of Ettie. For some reason she couldn't fathom, he spent more time trying to impress her than he did either of their parents. He was always trying to be so brave… "I know you're scared." She said softly, half hopping he would admit it so she wasn't the only one. The terror of having a gun pointed to her head was nothing compared to witnessing people being torn limb from limb. At least a bullet would be quick and painless. Kate shivered at the thought.

"I'm not scared." He answered. He was…. Energized. It felt like he'd woken up from a groggy slumber, oddly clear headed and ready for anything. It was adrenaline, Ettie had told him. But Scott felt it went deeper than just a thrill.

Kate ignored his denials, putting them off as him trying to be tough. "I am, too," she admitted, trying to coax him.

Scott's eyes narrowed, almost offended at the notion. "I said: I'm _not_ scared." His lips hinted at a bitter smile. "Be glad I'm doing something." He glared at her. "Between your praying and his surrendering to a higher power-" They had almost died.

Scott looked to his father, regarding him with something akin to disgust.

"He froze." Kate defended.

" _He froze_?" Scott scoffed. "He doesn't have it in him."

Kate looked frightened, seeing her brother in a new light. "He doesn't have _what_ in him, Scott?"

Scott didn't answer. Instead he left, joining Odette in searching bodies for weapons and breaking chairs. Kate was once again, left alone. Yet another pair of siblings ripping apart. Across the bar, a commotion drew their attention.

* * *

"Who'd you really give the money to, Seth?" Richard challenged. Seth sighed, turning away. "I can't hear you, brother." Richard leaned closer, wondering if he was trying to whisper it.

"Okay, look." Seth straightened, facing him again. "Whatever you think that you know about that four million-"

"Do you think that I don't know that the money is for Vanessa?" His voice rose. "Do you want to talk about the long con and the master grift? You have to take the prize, Seth. What were you two lovebirds gonna do? Go buy that stupid bar in the Keys that she's always squawking about?"

The attempt to turn the betrayal on him made Seth snap. "You _moron_! Do you honestly think that I would be here if I was gonna bail on you? Does that make sense?" Seth pointed to his own head, wishing Richie would start using his. "It was the opposite! I paid her to stay away. She was supposed to cross with us." He gestured between them. "You remember that? Yeah, but, no, she didn't. Why? 'Cause I told her I had to take _you_ to El Rey!" His voice grew in volume, attracting the attention of the rest of the group.

"Okay, yeah. Here we go." Richie rolled his eyes. Since the beginning, all Seth could talk about was his magical El Rey. A beach paradise where they would want for nothing and never be bothered. Richie doubted it was even real.

But Seth had hope. He had a dream. A life without looking over his shoulder, without the cons. A life with a beautiful woman and a vault full of money, living in paradise to the end of his days.

"I gave it up for you. For _you_. You understand me? I said goodbye to my only chance at any kind of - any _sane, normal_ existence." He stuttered seeing the dreams turns to dust in front of his eyes. "And for what? Hmm? So you could get a seat at the table with these goons. 'Cause let's face it. That's all they really are, right? Just another crew, another version of Bernardo and the Sharks."

"The Sharks were Puerto Rican, you idiot." Richard couldn't help but attack, defensive because a small part of him knew he was right. This hadn't gone to plan, not that Richard had a plan, but he knew without a doubt that, just like when they were kids, Seth had given up a lot to keep him with him.

"Was it that piece of ass on stage then?" Seth guessed. Guessed right, going off the way his brother immediately stiffened, glaring at him from the corner of his eye in challenge. "Oh. That's it, isn't it?" He said softer. "So that's what she taught you to do with your little knife. _Back-stab_."

"I'm getting real sick of you calling me a traitor." Richie sneered.

Seth stared into his brother's eyes, a long awaited confession bubbling forth. If he was gonna die, he might as well lay all the card on the table. "You know, my entire life, I have felt like I've owed you something because you pulled me out of that fire when we were kids. I'm getting real sick of paying vig on that."

"So what are you gonna do about it?" Richie leaned forward, a brow the in challenge. They talked the talk, but when it came down to it they always stuck together. Them against the world…

That was a different world. Not anymore. "As soon as we're out of here, you and me, _we're done_." There was an air of finality to it, leaving no room for backtalk or debate as Seth walked away. He couldn't stand looking at his brother a moment longer.

* * *

Backing themselves against the door, the survivors maintained the high ground as they created a protective perimeter around themselves. Having learned their lesson, they gave themselves room to move, and flee if needed, behind their overturned tables. The Fuller family stood center, behind the thickest of wood, the pooltable. Tanner and the Gecko brothers flanked them on either side, more exposed with the thinner rounder tables to the sides.

They waited in tense silence. The tension in the air seemingly having no effect on the brothers as they casually rested their elbows on top of the wall, gun hanging loosely in Seth's grip as he looked board enough to fall asleep.

While they were the most relaxed, their younger hostages were the most anxious. Scott held the machete in his hand with white knuckles, deeply breathing through his nose as he tried to fight the urge to move. His energy was wavering, and with it, his patience. He was eager for the fight.

His sister? Not quite...

Kate's arms grew sore, just barely able to extend her arms above the wood top as she held the gun tightly. Her eyes darted ever which was, waiting for any sign of life. It came in the sound of a mechanical clinking, chains quickly lifting and falling behind walls as the barricaded corridors opened outside their range of sight. The younger Fuller girl gave a shuddering breath, feeling her hair stand on edge. The fences fell in place with a quicker, duller boom. Kate dared to finally look away, turning to her sister for encouragement.

Ettie stood still, her taller frame providing a much more comfortable placement as she casually rested her hand on the table edge. Beside her leg, the gun rested peacefully, no shake or fearful grip like her sibling's. Kate wished she could be that calm. Odette felt her gaze, giving her a flinching smile in encouragement. Kate quickly followed her lead, looking back at the open bar once more. It was gonna be okay. It was gonna be okay… She just had to keep telling herself that between her silent prayers.

"Stay calm. Don't fire until you have them in your sight." Seth reminded them. They didn't have to wait long to be found.

A once beautiful seductress, now covered in blood and infused with snake scales, emerged from the side of the stage. She was soon followed by a much more gruesome counterpart. Unlike the other Culebras, he was covered in faded snake skin all around. Foot long, talon like swords splitting his hands while smaller bumpier spikes sprouted from his shoulders and down his arms. He may have been bigger than the rest, but he was just one asshole all the same. Seth could deal with that.

"Seven against two. I like those odds."

He spoke too soon.

While they had cleared the floor of the visible Culebras, they had overlooked the ticking time bombs that lingered. The bikers, truckers, and a familiar pervert that were bitten and ripped into, all woke from their dead slumber. Transformed, they turned their attention to the guns aimed at their creators in a primal force of pack vs. pray.

"They just got biblically worse."Jacob nervously adjusted the shotgun in hand.

Richiard's thick eyebrows came together. "Wait a second. I know that lugnut and his biker chick." The biker has bet against him in an early round of throwing knives. And from what chaos Richard could remember, he and his girlfriend had been the first to die at Santanico's hands. "They weren't Culebras before."

"Neither the perv, either." Scott sneered in disgust at the trucker that tried to buy him.

"Yeah, well, they are now."

Seeing his son eagerly bounce on the heels of his feet, Jacob felt now was his only opportunity to speak to him about the growing violence Scott seemed to have no trouble enacting. "Scott, listen to me. Don't let your anger get the best of you. There's a fine line between self-defense and depraved violence." He spoke quietly, hushed amongst the others.

"Dad, I got this," Scott assured. He didn't need his father giving him advice.

"There are better ways to channel your grief." He reminded. He'd seen how eager, how proud, Scott was with his attack. While he wanted to believe it was pride for defending his family, something about it just sat wrong in his gut. Jacob looked at his son, feeling the same sense of unfamiliarity as when he'd found first Ettie with track marks in her arms all those years ago. He wouldn't let him slip to that point. He wouldn't lose this one to the darkness of the world, as well.

Scott looked at him calmly, unphased by the death around them, his dark eyes glinting with the adrenaline that pumped through his systems. "Who says I'm channeling grief?"

"Right! It's time to ring the dinner bell." Tanner hit the drum cymbal in his hand, drawing their attention with the obnoxious sound. "Culebras, come out to play-ay!" He lured them closer as he backed away from the fort. With a thrust, he fired the first shot. The brothers soon followed his lead.

"They're still coming!" Kate began to panic.

"Keep shooting!"

"Ugh, I shot my load." Tanner gruffed.

Seth fired his own gun only to hear the sharp click of an empty round. "I'm out!" With their firepower quickly dwindling, Seth gave Richard the cue. As the Culebras enclosed on their trap, they retreated behind the tables.

Richard dialed the number to the disposable phone. "Everybody down."

"This better work." Tanner cursed, crouched low behind the table, kept away from the women with their fathers unwelcoming form. The old man sure had boney elbows...

"It'll work." He promised. The phone gave a telling beep, alerting the Culebras to the trap moments before it exploded. Shrattenal fired in all directions, piercing the Culebras with wood shards, and leveling those he stood in the room. Some died quickly, succumbing to the round of tiny stakes and turning to ash. Others were proving to be a more durable foe.

Scott was the first to rise, catching sight of the stipper pulling wood from her stomach. The stake hadn't hit anything vital, leaving her weakened, but enraged. She growled menacingly at them. Ignoring his sister's cry, he lept over their wood wall, charging at her without fear.

"Scott!" Kate screamed.

He ran towards her with his machete at the ready, intent to finish the job. The Gecko Brothers and Odette following after. Jacob pulled his youngest daughter back, holding her as he looked on helplessly. Scott was right, Kate realized, their father didn't have it in him to run into a fight.

Scott and his culebra were evenly matched, both using more speed than strength as they dealt and dodged blows. Her forked tongue extended like a frog's. It wrapped around his wrist and dislodged the machete with a hard tug.

Seth and Richie went for the big one. Their attempts ineffective as he stared at them in amusement, breaking the wood pieces extending from his stomach away like they were a mere nuisance. He roared his fury.

"Ah, shit." They realized they were in trouble. Both brothers dove away as he swiped at them with his extended claws. They would be no help to the other siblings.

Ettie made quick work dispatching a newly made Culebras's on her way to her brother's aid. Ducking under the swipe of one, she slid forward, staking the second before he even rose from the ground. She didn't look back, running as fast as she could, helpless to watch as he did what he always did: act without thinking.

Having broken free from the slimey tongue, Scott collected his machete from the floor

He steadied his breathing, regarding the stripper with a disgust rather than the lust he once had. He charged once more, machete raised in an attempt to either tackle her or impale her. He'd forgotten about this strength. Ettie reached the Culebra just as she had grabbed her brother by the shoulder and leg, catapulting him over her and throwing him into the wall.

"No!" Kate screamed from her father's embrace.

Scott struck the wood paneling. The ancient wood cracking and giving way under the blow. He felt the cracking and hot air under him, his body falling into the shaft as he desperately clung to the smooth stone wall. His sweaty fingers lost what little grip they had. Scott helf his body become weightless as he fell.

His entire body jerked, her eyes snapping open at the bruising grip around his hand.

Odette looked down at her brother, teeth gritted as she tried to hold his weight with one hand. The other pressed against the outer wall, desperately trying to keep her from going with him.

Scott felt he might cry. Ettie looked like she was about to.

"I'm here." Was all she said, her nails digging in painfully to his wrist as she tried to hold him up.

 _I'm here. I didn't leave. I'm not going to. Never again._ Scott heard the silent words conveyed through her frightened eyes. She had promised they'd stick together, and here she was fulfilling it. He wanted to laugh, shoving it in Kate's face how wrong she had been. Instead he screamed.

"I'm slipping!" Scott shouted, his feet kicking against the narrow wall, trying to get some traction to keep from falling into the unknown depths of the foggy vent.

"I've got you. I've got you." Was all she repeated, a mantra to remind him to stay cool despite how both her shoulders were strained at a dangerous level. The position was awkward, painful, and more importantly, vulnerable. Odette let out a pained cry, drawing blood from his brother as his skin slid under her nails.

Her single handed brace gave way, and Odette found herself falling in after him. A tight embrace fell over her legs, Tanner's inappropriate grip on her ass forgiven as he caught her. "Come on, feisty!"

But it was too little too late. The jerking movement had dislodged her iron clad grip. Ettie reached in with her free hand, trying to correct it when they were pulled from the vent. This time it was the older sister that gave a primal scream. Odette pulled from the vent, Scott pulled into it.

Her back and head hit the floor hard, aggravating the bump Seth had given her earlier that day in the hotel. She saw spots, hearing rather than seeing Tanner fight before being thrown into the shelves of bottles over the bar. He seemed to stay down for the count.

It was the loss of one child and the inevitable loss of the second, that finally made Jacob act. His fear and pensiveness forgotten, he released his daughter, grabbing a steak and charging at the Culebra who had thrown his son.

Jacob, who had long ago sworn never to lay hands on a woman, punched this mockery of one square in the face. Her head sharply turned, genuinely surprised by such a human attack.

"Ettie!" Jacob called for his daughter, begging her to get up as she laid half unconscious with a culebra growling quickly towards her. "Get up!" His old joints protested as he tried to keep away from the demon. He was too busy watching her claws to see her foot. He was quickly thrown to the floor, that inhumanly strong leg pinning him under her foot as she sneered her fanged teeth at him.

Odette tried to lift herself up, managing to her hands and knees at her father's voice. She found herself quickly staring down the Culebra she had previously managed to dodge. He hissed, spraying spit in her face. Ettie, sneered herself, losing all composure as she lunged for him first. They quickly found themselves rolling around the floor, exchanging fists and kicks in a close combat game of life and death. Alex's training had come in handy after all.

Kate felt herself tremble as she watched the state of affairs. The brothers were barely fending off the biggest of the pack while Tanner seemed down for the count. Her family was in trouble, and this time there was no one else to help. She watched as Odette was tossed away, the sheer force of the throw sending the older girl rolling on the floor like a ragdoll. Kate steeled her nerves, picking up the chainsaw. She wouldn't lose anymore of her family.

In a fetal position she rolled onto her back like a turtle, kicking her feet out as she was pounced on. He remained above her, her bent legs against the monster's chest the only thing keeping him at bay. She turned her head away just in time, nearly blinded by a pointed darting tongue. "Get off, asshole!" She complained, not for the first time in her life. Her arms felt like they might very well be at a breaking point. She tried desperately to keep the claws away from her throat.

He leaned forward his southern drawl taking on a gravely hiss. "I plan to." He smiled at her.

She caught Tanner lifting himself from the bar groggy and sore, he didn't appear to be coming to her rescue anytime soon.

Maybe not.

He grabbed a stake amidst the broken wood and glass, throwing it over to her. Perhaps he wasn't as much an asshole as she thought. She still had to find a way to get it.

Pinned to the ground by the stripper's foot, Jacob was helpless. His head tilted back, exposing his throat as he tried to get a lock on his daughter. Ettie wrestled with a thin but wiley trucker, otherwise disposed and unable to help.

A mechanical, grumbling whirl started up as Kate began the chainsaw. Whether her hands shook from the powerful vibrations or from fear, she didn't know. What she did know, was that she wasn't ready to lose anymore of her family. The Culebra eyes narrowed in challenge, doubting the strength of the little girl as she turned on her. This time, she didn't hesitate.

Raising the saw above her head, she brought it down on the Culebra. Her eyes narrowed, flinching as she was rained in blood, the saw violently cutting into the creature's neck and down her body till Kate shredded the heart. It disintegrated before her narrowed eyes. She didn't have much time to think as Jacob warned her of one more behind her. Kate cut it's head clear off it's body.

The chainsaw sputtered and groaned, falling silent once more as Kate dropped it in shock.

Distracted by the brutal deaths, the new culebra seemed to hesitate. Holding her breath, Ettie used the small window to take a make or break risk. She let go of one of his arms, turning her entire body and rolling away. Odette grabbed the stake now in each, quickly rolling back to straddle the culebra. She screamed as she drove it into his heart, hitting the stone floor on the other side of him with the force of it.

Jacob ran to his youngest daughter, holding her blood splattered face. "Are you okay?"

"I don't know." She admitted weakly, sounding like she might cry. She looked to her sister finding her still kneeling on the grounder haunched over and hazy eyed as she stared at the ground. Ettie, strong, unstoppable, always calm Ettie looked empty. Kate's voice cracked, seeing the broken wall her brother had disappeared in. "We have to find Scott."

"We will, honey. We will." He promised, holding her close as she buried her face in his shirt.

As they lingered in their new wave of shock, there was still one Culebra standing.

The fight wasn't over just yet.

* * *

Seth was kicked in the chest, sending him crashing into an old piano.

With it's back turned, Richie stabbed the monstrosity. He attempted to run to his brother only to be picked up by the back of his suit and thrown. The spiked beast roared in amusement.

Both brothers regained the footing, each a little breathless. "Seth! Plan B!"

They made a mad dash to collect the chairs with sharpened footing. Confused the beast looked between them as they scrambled. A silent nod was exchanged between the breathless brothers. In unpracticed perfection, they ran forward. The giant Culebra stood no chance, unable to fight them both off at the same time. He was impaled from both sides, no match for the overwhelming force of the stakes.

Richard couldn't help but smile. He bent down to pick up his knife from the bloody pile of ash. "Now, that's one for the books."

Their animosity forgotten, Seth shared his brother's soft smile. But if his life had taught him anything, it's that Seth Gecko's happiness was never meant to be a long-term thing.

He looked over the bar, finding it cleared of all Culebras. His roaming view stopped short at the defeated look of the bible-thumpers. Odette knelt on the ground unresponsive as Tanner shifted awkwardly behind her. His sister and father embracing in a tight hug. One Texan, two Texan, three Texan, fo… Seth lost what little humor his face held. Bruce Lee Jr. was missing.

"Shit." He cursed. The shorter Gecko turned away, running a hand down his head and over his face. Seth felt a heavy sigh leave his lips as he opened his caught the tail end of a flash of movement rush past them.

The brother turned, following the blur to see Santanico drop to the floor behind them. Cautious, they kept their weapons ready.

"You can't leave, Richard. Not yet." She had healed in her time away, now untouched by the three bullets Seth had put in her. Devoid of blood and under the guise of her more human form, she fell back into the role of sultry seductress once more. "You belong here. Somewhere inside, close to the bone, you know it, too." Her words caressed him like velvet, low and sweet and blindfolding him to the truth.

Richard shook his head, brandishing the knife at her in warning. "No, you don't know me." He was tired of her head games. Sick at the things she made him do. Maybe Seth was right. He'd been playing into her trap all along, nearly getting his brother and him killed in the process.

"That's not true." She stepped closer. "I know you better than your brother does."

Seth looked from the monster queen to Richard. "You tell me, brother. Does she?"

He didn't get the chance to answer.

"I'm in your soul, Richard." Santanico purred. "But I don't blame you for being suspicious. I asked you to trust me, but I didn't tell you what was coming. I wanted to show you who I was on my own terms. The world is much more complicated than you know." Her tone was apologetic and calming. Richard's grip on the knife wavered, his arm slowly beginning to lower. Emboldened, Kissa stepped closer.

Seth witnessed his brother fall under her spell once more. But this time he was ready. "Richie, look at me. Don't listen to this. Don't listen to this." Seth begged, shifting anxiously on his feet the closer she got.

"I taught you how to see, but that was only the beginning." She whispered through her red painted lips, caressing his mind with her words.

"Don't listen to this." Seth repeated, growing in his desperation. Richie felt torn.

"I don't want to hurt you. I need you. And you need me, too" Her chin tilted towards her nearly bare chest, looking at him through those dark eyelashes. She made him recall all the times she beckoned to him in his loneliness, a mirage of everything he ever wanted at a time he had lost everything he had.

Seth spotted the wooden stake close at hand. Slowly he shifted his feet inch by inch, the movement covered by his assumed anxious agitation.

Richie's eyes softened. Maybe he could have the best of both worlds. "You have to let these people go." He tried to bargain. He didn't want to Kate hurt anymore than she had been. Something about her reminding him of the dog he once cared for, adorable, kind, and too sweet for the hand she'd been dealt. And like his dog Peaches, she was too loyal for her own good. She'd never leave without her family.

Like him, maybe she didn't know _how..._

"Richard. Stop!" Seth ordered him. He didn't know if it was a ploy or not, but he wasn't leaving his brother alone with this bloodsucking bitch.

Santanico paid him no mind, keeping her gaze locked with Richard. "Something's coming, remember?" Her eyes closer as she let her head fall back in longing. She opened her eyes, daring a small smile at him. He was the key to it all, and soon enough, she'd finally be free.

"Then let them go." He repeated. Maybe he _did_ belong here. They, certainly, did not.

The Mistress looked pensive, considering it. Seth kept his alert gaze on her, feeling the tip of his fingers skim the table the stake rested on. He was nearly there when she caught onto his plan. Her puckered smile became a sneer, her rich brown eyes turning into yellow snake like slits. Her head turned to him, not nearly as oblivious to his sad attempts as he thought she was.

Seth swallowed, opening his mouth, freezing as he debated making the leap for the weapon or letting his brother barter peace.

If the day had taught him anything, it was that peace was never an option.

An echoing shot sounded through the bar. Seth watching as Santanico's pristine form was once more splattered with blood. She gasped, just as surprised as the brothers. Seth followed the direction of the splatter feeling his heart stop cold in his chest at the sight of a blossoming blood stain on his brothers. The bullet had ripped clear through his chest, just passed his heart.

Richard choked on the sudden taste of blood, his large frame buckling under the sudden force and crippling pain. Santanico showed her true form once more, releasing an ear piercing screech as she watched him crumble. The brothers weren't the only ones forced to watch their plans crumble in front of their eyes. Richard let the knife drop from his hand, swaying as he tried to stay upright.

Seth went for his brother numbly. His brain and sight arguing on what they saw. He didn't want to believe it was as bad as it so clearly was.

Santanico intervened, done playing nice as she pushed the older brother away with all her strength. He was sent flying backwards, crashing into the shooter across the room. She grabbed Richard's uninjured hand, dragging him on his back as she scurried into a dark corridor. The snake retreated back into it's hole with her catch.

Seth climbed up from the sore entanglement of limbs, crawling after them as he desperately called his brothers name. The prison bars dropped once more, separating the brothers at last. Seth tried in vain once more. " _Richie!_ "

Now two brother were lost.

* * *

 **Please Review :)**

 **As long as you guys are still reading (and _at least a few_ reviewing) I will continue to write this. Sorry if the next few chapters are a little long but I want to get to the good stuff: S2 and Seth and Ettie. ;) ****Seth may or may not be protective of his nicknames for Ettie already.**


	8. 1x08 ※ Welcome to the Party

Look who's back! (Again!) I'm still not happy with this chapter but you guys deserved something so I'll probably just redo it at a later date. Sorry for the lesser quality. For full otp angst you might want to re-read chapter 6 (but its not necessary).

-:BTWD:-

* * *

And all I see is war path ahead of me  
Each and every step I welcome readily  
And if my lack of fear bring the death of me  
Let the spirits of my ancestors envelop me

Zack Hemsey : Nice To Meet Me

* * *

 **Bless This Wayward Daughter**

 **La Conquista**

 **Welcome to the Party  
**

* * *

Ranger Gonzalez's back met the bar with a small _crack_. The source of the sound, be it his spine or the old wood, wasn't clear.

"You're not a thinking man, are you?" Seth held the machete to the Ranger's throat. His other hand tightly clenched around the shoulder of the jacket, pushing back every time Gonzalez struggled. "If you were, you would've let this go. No, you're one of those junkyard dogs, right? Just can't stay on _your leash_." Seth sneered at him over his quiet heavy breathing, his glare relentless.

There was a calmness to his cold expression that was drastically different to the wildness of his eyes. His dark gaze just slightly hooded he gave the impression of disgusting disinterest for his welfare, the way one might regard a large bug crawling on their floor. Quick to see and quick to kill.

For all his instance otherwise, at that moment, Ettie could easily see him as the coldblooded killer he had been accused of. Quietly she walked closer, motioning behind her at Kate and Tanner to stay away as she tried to reason with him. She needed that Ranger alive. Based on the coiled rattlesnake-like posture of the bank robber, that might very well not happen.

Gonzalez stared back in equal, less collected, fury. "I came to do what I gotta do, and I ain't leaving till I do it."

Ettie didn't know what personal vendetta was unfolding before her, but she did know time was ticking by faster than their little standoff might imply. "Seth." His name felt strange on her tongue, soft but strict as she ordered his attention. Equally surprised by the use of his name, the thief shifted his stance, casting a hesitant glance her way.

"What?" He asked harshly, snarling like a dog when Freddie tried to use the minor distraction to throw him off.

"I need him." She spoke softly, moseying up beside him all comfy and calm like. Seth blinked quickly, shifting away from the sudden closeness. She had that vulnerable twinkle in her eye, all sweet and innocent like the little one. Ettie quickly shifted her attention to the Ranger. Seth was left reeling.

Gonzalez studied the duo leaning over him in confusion.

"What's your name?" She asked, those doe eyes looking glossy.

"Freddie."

"Ettie." She introduced herself. "Freddie, my brother's down there with those things." She threw her thumb over her shoulder. "And I don't know what happened between you and these assholes-" her finger turned to Seth. He licked his lips and looked away, an annoyed expression at the abrupt return to their regularly scheduled programming. "-but I know my baby brother is innocent and alone, and though he'd never admit it, probably scared shitless." She sure as hell was.

Freddie appeared torn, the anger that burned through him battling against the more natural caring side at the thought of a kid down there alone.

"Xena-"

Odette sharply turned, her eyes colder, her face taken on years of wariness with a single look as she cut him off. "He is the only way to get our brothers back."

The two entered a stare down. So unwilling to budge, Ettie joining Seth and pushing the Ranger back as he tried to struggle once more. She still needed crowd control. They didn't break their gazes, not for a moment, not for a blink. Not even when the shotgun cocked behind his head. His narrowed eyes didn't even wince as the cold barrel tickled the ends of the closely cropped hair behind his ear.

"Let him go," Jacob demanded.

A tendon in Seth's neck jumped as he clenched his jaw. _Damn preacher's daughters and their distractions…_ "This ain't your fight, _padre_." He glowered at no one in particular, returning his attention to Gonzalez.

"And it ain't your call to kill him." Jacob rebutted. He cast a surveying glance over his daughter, not liking their close proximity at this dangerous moment. "Step away, Odette."

Odette didn't move. "He knows how to get out." She wasn't willing to back away and have shit hit the fan just as they found a glimmer of hope.

"We already saw him get killed, but he lived." Kate reminded her father. She shifted closer despite the tension and toxic masculinity. "He knows something." For once, Kate readily sided with her sister. Though their brother was gone, his voice echoed through Kate.

"They're right." Freddie challenged. "I know a way out. But you're too stupid to listen." He baited, trying again to push Seth and the weapon off him. The Gecko was stronger than he seemed, more muscled than the suit might mislead. He wasn't the taller brother, but he had always been the stronger, his time in prison cementing that.

"Shut up!" He ordered. A scoff escaped him. "This guy thinks he's Dirty Harry." Seth bent forward hovering inches away as he took on a calloused tone of promise. "You out for _blood_? That's good, 'cause you're gonna die bloody."

"I said, _let him go_!" Jacob pressured.

"This is Old Testament, _padre_!" Seth shouts back at the ex-pastor, reminding him of his own misdeeds that day. _The things we do for family,_ he thought. Now, Seth was gonna avenge his. He pressed the sharp edge further into the Ranger's throat, drawing a trickle of blood.

Jacob chose his words carefully. His voice strained in emotion despite the even tone. "My Scott is gone because you kidnapped us. _You_ forced us to come here. Forced us to stay because _you_ went back on your word."

Seth felt like he'd been shot in the gut with how the cutting truth landed on him. Ettie could see it in his face. So could Freddie. A crack of humble humanity in his enraged expression. He had done a lot of bad shit in his life, but inadvertently, this might by far be the worse. From dawn till dusk, this day had been a shit storm of piss-poor timing and one mistake after another, each one sending Seth floundering to try and take back control of a seemingly simple plan.

"By your scripture, you raise that blade, I can splatter that melon of yours all over that wall." Jacob's finger gently shook with the slightest of tremors as it hovered over the trigger.

Seth's head fell forward like a scolded child. He sighed. "You see this?" He glowered at Odette. Readjusting his grip, he fought with Freddie, bringing his head forwards and using his arms to pin his neck as his hand gripped the Ranger's sneering face. Turning it with little compassion, he showed the two puncture marks on Freddie's neck. "Looks like this little piggy's already had a close encounter, huh?"

And in that small revelation, those two marks changed everything.

The rest of the occupants straightened, on edge and ready to fight once more.

Freddie finally got his head free of the dehumanizing grip. "I'm fine! There's nothing wrong with me!"

"Nothing was wrong with those bikers, either, till they got up and they started chomping," Seth argued, using that silver tongue of his to sway the rest of the survivors in rallying with him.

Seeing his support dwindling, Freddie was quick to cut to the chase. "I know a way out." _Make yourself invaluable in a hostage situation._ It was one of the first things he had been taught by his late mentor. "It's down that trapdoor over there, through a hole." Outside the tight-knit micro-hostage situation, Tanner and Kate both searched the floor around them trying to find the door. So well concealed, they had nearly missed it twice. It would have been easily overlooked if not for the sudden stop of blood that drained from the floor through its cracks.

"Down to where?" Odette asked.

Freddie looked almost hesitant to tell them. "It's a grinder. For flesh." He swallowed thickly, just as disgusted as the rest of them. "Get past and there might be an exit."

 _Might_ , being the keyword. It wasn't a promise, but it was the closest thing to hope they had. Most of their scavenged supplies depleted, they had the choice to go or stay sitting ducks as the next wave after wave came after them.

"Thanks for the tip, but it's the end of the line for you." Seth was smug, having believed he'd won the room with his little declaration. He should know better with this family.

"Killing him is a very _stupid_ thing to do." Odette reminded him. She still needed him.

Seth nearly smirked, immediately seeing the loophole appear before him. "Fine." He easily agreed. "He stays here."

"Leaving him behind is like pulling the trigger." The thought was even more ghastly to Jacob, even crueler considering what they'd be leaving him with. "I say we vote on it."

Seth peered over his shoulder at the old man, brows furrowed and voice disbelieving. "Does this look like a parish hall to you?" There was a bit of genuine curiosity in his hollering, wondering just how insane the old man was.

Odette was undeterred, raising her own voice over Seth's to call for a vote under the hope it would finally put this pissing contest to rest. They needed to get on with more important things. Such as saving her brother and escaping almost certain gruesome death.

"All those in favor of leaving the Ranger, raise your hands now or shut the hell up and hold your peace."

Seth fidgeted, raising his hand for a brief moment to show his support before repositioning it to manhandle the hostage once more. Odette cast him an unamused glance.

She and her father scrutinized the rest. They had no intention of raising their hands. It was left to Kate and Tanner to decide. Both standing awkwardly in the back, neither appearing ready to commit to a sentencing.

Seth cast a nervous glance over his shoulder, urging them one more time to speak up.

The next hand raised was a surprise to all; the appendage a little shaky under the weight of their gazes. Jacob's heart dropped in shock. "Kate?"

"I'm sorry, Daddy, but you saw what happened to those bikers. He could turn on us." She had lost so much already, the idea of risking anyone else for a needless mistake was crippling. She looked at her sister and father, begging them to understand. For once, Ettie appeared to be the better Christian, and it had thrown them both.

Odette gave her sister a nod, accepting and understanding. "Two against two. Tanner? Stay or Go?" She put the pressure on him. "And just to remind you, he hasn't turned yet, if he even wi-"

"No, no, princess! No soapboxes during voting!" Seth glared at her.

It wasn't enough to convince the professor.

"Professor?" Gonzalez asked nervously, feeling like he was staring down the barrel of a gun at this point. He could see the muzzle flash.

Tanner looked away. Unable to meet Freddie's searching gaze, he shifted in discomfort. Sighing quietly, he raised the stake in his hand. His vote was cast.

Three to two, the abandonment was approved.

Freddie's head sunk back, hitting the table in defeat. His voice was a near whine as he sighed, "Come on, man. Give me a break."

"I'm sorry, Sheriff. It's purely academic." Tanner defended.

Odette was still, staring the blonde man down before turning on her heel and crossing her arms. She stared at Seth. "His vote doesn't count."

Seth released his hostage, throwing the machete across the room. In the same act, he pulled the gun from his waistband, aiming it at the Ranger before he could move. He leaned forward to gawk at the older Fuller with complete disbelief. "And why the fuck not?!" He challenged. His brows twitched above wide eyes wondering if it was just him she loved to torture this way.

"He has a gun on his crotch and calls himself sex-machine." Odette was level-headed, unmoved by Tanner's cries of defense of Kate's objections. "He's clearly not mentally sound enough for such a decision."

Seth stared at her. His mouth dropped open, lips struggling to form sound as, for once, all words failed him. He walked toe to toe with her, ignoring Jacob's calls to stay away. "Are you fucking kidding me right now?" He asked her quietly, nearly a whisper as he studied her face for any sign of cruel joking. He changed to full volume, bellowing in her face. "You can't change the rules, Sweetheart!"

Odette's eye twitched. "You should have thought about that before keeping those keys and stranding us here." It dug that knife in deeper. Seth took a step back, admiring how she had changed from doe-eyed to cold fury in a snap. She was vicious when she was pissed.

"We voted. We chose." He reminded the group in his deep holler. "I either tie him to that pole or I put a bullet in his brain." He stared Odette down, leaving the choice to her. "You pick, princess."

* * *

The snarl that escaped was rife with self-loathing. Freddie wasn't sure what rubbed him worse: the fact the Gecko brothers got the drop on him a third time today or the ties that bound him. Left helpless as his hands were tied behind his back to a broken bar pipe, all attempts to twist out of the chafing red fabric seemed to be in vain.

 _"Aah!"_ Freddie hiss when Seth pulled the bondage even tighter. "This ain't over!"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure it is." Seth finished the final loop, knotting the ripped shirt into a bow. Call it his more sadistic side but the idea of him being ripped into like sharks on chum had a certain appeal to the vengeful robber. As far as Seth was concerned, Freddie Gonzalez might very well be the (human) bane of his existence. From the liquor store to the hotel to this godforsaken shit show, the lawmen had done nothing but pop up at the worst possible time. _Let him rot here..._

"Unless you actually do turn into one of them. Then you'll be part of the family." He patted the Ranger's arm twice in mock comfort. He walked away. For the first time, he was content with a twist in events. It wouldn't last.

"Like Richie?" Gonzalez shot back. He hear Seth's footsteps slow before coming to a sharp stop. He didn't have to be able to see him to know he had struck a nerve. He could just imagine that arrogant look slapped off the bastard's face. "What do you think she's gonna do to him?" He probed, hoping to get a reaction. Seth didn't take the bait. With a scoff at the Ranger's pathetic attempts, he left him. "You and your brother are gonna dangle from a rope! I swear!" Freddie yelled so loud the group banging on the trap door stopped to witness the commotion.

Seth wiped at his nose, shaking off whatever ideas Ranger Danger tried to put in his head. "How is coming?" He inspected the stone door below them.

"Might come a little faster if someone hadn't wandered off," Tanner complained. "What's she even doing?"

Seth's shoulders rolled back, regarding the woman who was a constant pain in his ass with renewed suspicion. She looked away from them at that moment, continuing to speak in hushed tones with the ranger. Whatever little joy he was feeling had fled, an incredulous annoyance taking hold instead. If Ranger Gonzalez was the bane of his existence, she might as well have been the next runner-up. "Hey, Xena!"

He was ignored.

Across the room, Odette continued to beg one last time for the Ranger's help. Freddie hung his head, slamming himself into the pole behind him in frustration. The answer to her question was one he'd love to know himself.

"I. Don't. Know." He spoke slowly. He was a clueless as them as to why he'd yet to grow fangs and scales. His head raised, body going slack against the pole as he rested for a moment. He'd seen the carnage the brothers could inflict up close. Unwilling to ask her to risk herself to help him further, and unable to help her below, Freddie did the only thing he could.

"Look, the only advice I can give you-" Freddie's voice lowered to a whisper. "- watch him." His brown eyes seemed to darken under a scowl. Restrained, but not defeated, it was clear his vengeance was still coming. "Seth Gecko's just as much a threat as those things. He'll turn on you and leave you to die in a second."He swallowed, remembering the morning that had led him to this morning. She hung onto his every word.

"I've seen what they're capable of." The carnage of the bank job. The pained wheezings of Earl and the clerk as they bled to death. The eyeless body of the bank teller… Perhaps the only thing he truly feared was leaving this family alone with him. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if they, or anyone else, suffered at the brother's hands a moment longer. He'd fulfill his promise to Earl. He'd hunt them to hell and back. Freddie tried to put as much conviction in his voice as possible as he whispered, "The first chance you get, break away and _run_."

Ettie's eyes turned to the group over Freddie's shoulder. She met Seth's gaze without their usual challenge. Instead, she silently contemplated the roller-coaster between hostage and allies they seemed to be tonight. Until her family was regrouped and walking out those doors, she was sure of only one thing when it came to Seth Gecko, "I need him."

Freddie jerked against the pole trying to shake sense into her. A venom of a different kind seeped into his words. "He will kill you. If Richard doesn't…"

At the mention of the other brother, Odette was reminded of the surety in which Kate had spoke to her, entrusting her life to the skills of a mad man. _"I know Richie won't hurt me... he cares."_ Odette had laughed at the time, but now... what options did she have left?

Odette's eyes returned to focus, meeting Freddie's gaze and matching his whispered tone. "The weird thing is, I don't think he will."

Ranger Gonzalez's frown deepened.

Back across the room, the devil himself had had enough of the secret conversation. _"You better be sayin' goodbye, princess."_ Came his impatient holler.

And just like that the small humanity she saw in him drifted from mind. Ettie's eyes fluttered up, rolling back in her head as she was reminded of just how much he grated on her nerves.

 _"Don't trust him."_ Freddie rasped in a sharp whisper.

Odette spared him a last apologetic frown as she left him. She kicked at the debris that littered the floor before her. Wood, nails, and chunks of flesh from the blast moved out of her way. She bent down, picking up a stake that had survived the blast. Her body went rigid, her movement pausing in surprise at the sight of what hid beneath it.

The dark stains in the carved stone were distinct and unforgettable. An eye stared back at her from the handle. Richie's knife...

A glance over her shoulder confirmed that the floor she'd parted was clear of debris, if not slick with blood. Her hazel eyes turned forwards as she stood, her foot resting atop the strange switchblade as she shifted her stance. Seth's eyes narrowed, wondering if this was another of her strange challenges.

Behind him, the trap doors finally relented under the pressure. Releasing their seal, they fell open with a slight rumble and bang. Tanner's overexcited hoot and cackles of joy stole Seth's attention.

Without hesitation, Ettie kicked back, appearing as if she'd slipped as the knife slid straight into Freddie's foot with only a slight soft clatter. The bank robber turned back, catching her stumble as she straightened herself.

Feeling the weighty object hit his bot, Freddie dared an inconspicuous glance down. Ignoring the sudden twist in his throat at the sight of the cursed thing, he placed his foot over it to hide it from view.

"You good?" Seth surveyed her. His usual glare was gone, an eyebrow raised in something akin to concern.

"Peachy," She lied. Seth caught on to the tone. She was throwing his words back at him. Seth watched her closely as she passed behind him.

"Great, now what was that back there." He pointed to Freddie.

Odette had a hell of a poker face as she looked into each of his eyes. Maybe, just the slightest bit, she trusted him more than she'd like to admit. She had the audacity to smile as she threw his words back at him. "Saying goodbye."

A breath of air escaped his mouth in a huff of expected irritation. Seth turned his upper body staring back at the Ranger. Odette's smile dropped along with her body, her knees bending in a squat at the edge of the hole.

Holding the stake loosely in her hands, she rested her elbows on her closed knees. She waited and watched. In the now quiet bar, they could hear the grinding of gears used to tear flesh apart. Aghast, Jacob aimed the shotgun into the dimly lit entrance. The smell alone gave away the hell that awaited them as the metallic tang of blood and rotting meat permeated the air. Seth wiped his nose, squatting beside her as they dared to lean over, searching for a hint of safe passage.

"I need a phone." She blindly extended her hand.

Tanner pulled out an old mobile flip phone from his leather jacket. "I don't think you'll get service, sweetcheeks."

She brought the phone placed in her hand closer, pausing when she saw the basic design. She rolled it in her grip, a thoughtful look bringing her eyebrows down.

She had only met three people under the age of fifty who didn't use touch phones. Her drug dealer, her kidnapper, and now, Tanner. One of those things was not like the others. Two of the three had brought Odette nothing but misery. Odette's eyes raised to Tanner with renewed suspicion. Her dubious inventory mistaken for cold judgment.

"Can't have the ladies getting too clingy." He winker at her, grinning jokingly.

"I'm sure." She droned. Her eyes took one more sweeping gaze over him, sparing a glance Seth's way in a comparison before getting back to work. She'd be keeping a closer eye on the confirmed creep from now on.

Turning the phone onto full brightness, she hoped the plastic would provide a bit more resistance than the thin flat glass and metal of most phones. Without warning, she let it drop into the trap, sliding down the ramp and into the darkness.

Tanner gave an anguished gasp. His hatred for this family only growing.

"Right." Tanner cleared his throat. "Not like I had anything important like precious irreplaceable memories on there."

Below, the phone seemed to stop, giving a faint illumination to the bloody ramp.

"I'm sure you can download your favorite porn again. Besides, you'll get it back. If you behave." She vaguely promised as she stood up. The fact it still glowed the clear indicator that it hadn't gone straight into the grinder. There was an edge or blockage there, something they could use to keep from becoming Culebra lunch meat.

Seth turned, following her with his eyes as she began unbuttoning the plaid overshirt and pulled it off. She tied it around her waist, following her younger sister's lead before twisting her dark locks in a loose braid. Seth's eyes wandered up. The tighter blue tank top below clung to her athletic and curvy frame. _Why were the hot ones always crazy?_ He shook his head in disappointment and refocused his attention to the hole below them.

Tanner made a face, mocking her in a higher, mumbled pitch under his breath. Odette gave her own warning look this time. Tanner was very grateful for the trap door of death between them in that moment. Clearing his throat, he took stock of the room.

"All right, hold on a second. Let me think out loud." Tanner instructed. "There was a chain hanging from the pool table. We can wrap that around a crossbar and use it to cantilever each one of us down. If we double the chain up, should give us about 200 pounds of tensile strength."

Seth rolled his eyes, time was wasting. "Yeah, you keep working on that, MacGyver."

Seth lowered his legs into the hole, gripping the side of the stone floor. Blowing the air out of his lungs, he thought of how much his brother was gonna owe him for this. Not wanting to give it another thought, he pushed off the edge and slid down the steep decline. Keeping a hand on the wall, he used his heels to break at the narrow edge before the slow grinder.

"Or you could do that." Tanner tersely admitted. The Professor bit his tongue, clearly at wits end after continuously being interrupted, outshined, and just plain mocked.

Seth went silent at the most inopportune time. No steps, no 'all-clear', no blood-curdling scream of agonizing death. Silence.

"You dead?" Ettie called into the tunnel. A beat of silence passed, and for a moment they shifted nervously, believing he might just be. "Se-"

"Not yet, sunshine. Come on in, guys! Water's fine!" He called up to them, a smartass as always. "I guess." He quietly added, looking around at mangled body parts and the spray of blood that wet the entire edge. He looked up as Odette used the stake in hand to slow herself. Following Seth's path, she stuck close the wall, her feet stopping just short of the open air, mere inches from disfiguring death.

"Join the party." He grunted, extending a hand to pull her to her feet. The duo observed the cutting gears pulverizing a few strangling limbs, blood spraying up in a red mist every now and then. They glanced at each other, each asking the other to make the choice. If anyone else came down there wouldn't be enough to pull them out if they changed their minds. It was now or never.

Seth wasn't eager to take on that burden.

"Keep to the edge." Odette hollered up. She'd made the choice for all of them, one she may or may not live to regret.

Seth pressed his back against the wall, slowly sidestepping across the thin edge. Above, Tanner was less graceful than his predecessors. Odette heard a curse, peeking up in time to move against the wall when she was nearly sent back into the grinder.

"Whoa! Whoa! Careful! Careful! Watch the grinder." Seth scolded them like children.

Tanner picked himself up, dusting himself off and wiping his hands on his jeans. "Don't worry, I'm good," Tanner assured. He bent down to pick up his phone since the device was no longer needed. The vent-like opening on the other side of the machine provided a dim light, allowing them to see just enough to maneuver around the narrow walkways.

Tanner called for the weapons they had salvaged. Kate lowered the shotgun carefully, Jacob slowly lowering the bag till Tanner caught them both.

Making it over to the other side, Seth let out the breath he'd been holding. He wasted no time in motioning for the bag. On the other side, he was pretty much defenseless to anything that wanted to come out of that narrow corridor. Seth looked over his shoulder nervously. He felt naked without a weapon.

Stepping onto the wide solid ground once more, Odette readjusted the stake in her hand, twirling it and gripping it with renewed purpose as she approached the vent like opening.

The professor swung the bag back and forth in his hand, testing the weight as he tried to gain some velocity. "All right. Coming to you."

"Throw me the bag." Seth pressured. He was wasting time.

"Yeah, yeah. One, two,-" Tanner misstepped, slipping in blood. "Shit!" He dropped the bag mid-swing, watching helplessly as it was consumed into the mulcher. The stakes that protected them turned into woodchips before their eyes. "Oopsie Daisy." Tanner's lower jaw pulled his lips into a tense toothy frown. He looked on embarrassed.

Seth was livid. Covering his face, he screamed obscenities as he wiped the snarl from his mouth. "Oopsie daisy? No. You don't get to say "Oopsie Daisy"." He mocked. "You just friggin' killed us." His arm flung outward, wanting desperately to strike him for his sheer stupidity despite the fact he was hindered by a Culebra blood blender.

"I'm sorry! I slipped! It's not like this place isn't covered in blood or something." He defended bashfully.

Seth clenched his hands, trying to regroup as he motioned him to get move on. Without weapons, they couldn't very well linger about. "Yeah, okay, just-just come on." He bit out.

"Hey, guys?" Kate called from above, reminding them a couple of them were still waiting. She eased herself down. Instead of sliding down and risking it, she eased herself down from the upper edge, her legs dangling like bait.

"Kate, I got you, girl."Tanner wrapped his arms around her legs, helping her down the steep slope as his hands moved up her body under the guise of easing her down. "Oh yeah." He said a little breathily. Not explicitly groping but invasive enough, both girls gave him unamused looks as Kate was finally put on her feet. "See? Chivalry isn't dead." Tanner didn't bother to stick around to help the old man, leaving him to slide down like the rest.

"Come on. Come on, Dad. You got it." Kate encouraged. And he did. At least until he stepped on the same catch of blood and guts Tanner had. He moved into the wall, the ancient stone meeting vulnerable knee with an alarming click. "Dad! Oh, God." Kate covered her mouth at the expression of pain on his face. Jacob rested against the wall, eyes tightly closed in pain as he rubbed the old joint that'd always given him trouble.

"You okay?" Ettie called over to them. The group jumped when the trap door closed above. Now trapped, their only option was to move forward.

"Pick him up and get moving, princess. We gotta go." Seth ordered.

"Don't be an ass." Ettie hissed at him.

Across the way, Kate helped her father to his feet, exchanging quiet reassuring words before beginning her tightrope walk against the wall. Her shorter, thinner frame moved with more ease across the narrow footpath. "Careful." Odette pleaded, holding out her hand for Kate's smaller one.

"I'm coming," Jacob muttered. Already he was slower with his bad knee. He reluctantly looked down in order to gauge his footing. It was impossible for the old pastor to miss the rotting corpse and burgundy covered gears. He winced. "The Humanity," Surely, they had entered Hell.

* * *

"So, does the dean of the archeology department approve of that getup?" Seth glanced behind him at the unique weaponry. Having designated himself leader of this little rag-tag and haggard group of survivors, it was left to Seth to lead the way through the tunnels. The shotgun and stake their only surviving defense, Odette and Tanner followed behind, each armed, with Kate playing crutch to her father further behind.

Tanner gave a coarse chuckle. "Not a problem. ... You know how it is. Publish or perish." He cracked.

Seth's brows furrowed. "So, why "Sex Machine"?" He flinched at the answers that may be behind the nickname but he was far to curious not to ask.

"Ain't it obvious?" Tanner nudged him and quietly laughed at his own lewd joke. "That's a pun from my boys'-school-Latin days. _Deus Sex Machina_ , or, uh, _the God in the sex machine_."

Seth's brows jumped at the revelation, not expecting such an upper-crust background from the crude, middle-class professor. Seth released an amused scoff. "Only boys' school I ever went to didn't teach dead languages." Then again his time in any form of institution leaned more towards correctional then educational. The last time he was really settled anywhere was probably the year and a half he and Richie spent at that boy's behavior farm when they were twelve. Admittedly they did learn more manners than their worthless drunk of a father could ever teach them, but other than that the only thing else they bettered was their lying and poker faces.

"Well, there's plenty of them on the walls in here." Tanner gazed upon the numerous symbols and imagery painted on the walls. As old as the temple itself they stood only slightly faded through the millennia. This was everything he ever dreamed of; the excitement getting the better of him as he bit his lip to stifle a smile. "These stories are just ancient history to most people. But I always believed the power they spoke of was true."

"What power?"

"Their blood sacrifices summoned the Vision Serpent, giving them access to a higher plane of consciousness." Tanner was so lost in thought he missed the looks Ettie and Seth sent him. He could at least pretend to enjoy this a little less. "Yeah, they could see things that don't exist in our temporal reality."

"What? What do you mean, " _temporal reality_ "?" He asked quietly. Visibly shaken by the idea his voice rose. He eyeballed the family behind him seeing them follow after Odette like he knew they would. They seemed quite hunky-dory ignoring the conversation. Seth was pretty sure could live without it as well.

"I mean the past, the future, things you and I can't see. Their ancestors mapped the stars." Tanner tilted his head back, the dim lights above not much to look at in the stone ceiling. "They understood the cosmic movements of the galaxies. Some even say that .. they could communicate with alien races."

" _Stop!_ " Seth sharply demanded. He ducked low, peeking his head around the corner to make sure the coast was clear. "Don't make this any weirder than it already is. Now, I can do "Temple of Doom", man, but "Crystal Skull"? I'm out." It was all far too much to process in one day.

"Never seen it," Odette whispered. She pulled her head back form around the corner above him.

Seth regarded her as if she herself was an alien species. "I swear, every time you open your mouth I hate you a little more."

"Sorry." She rolled her eyes. "Not everyone spent their childhood obsessing over old westerns."

"It came out in 2008," Seth argued. He pressed his hand to her back, ready to push her forward once it was clear. If he let her linger so would the others.

"Who gives a shit!" She harshly hissed back.

"Not to interrupt your little domestic," Tanner forced himself between them. "-but I think the coast is clear."

Ettie and Seth looked at Tanner before continuing on. "And it's not a western." Seth pushed her forwards.

"This place is filled with Chanan markings."

"What do you mean?"

" _Chanan._ It means "snake", but it also means "guard"."

"What are they guarding?"

"Duh." Tanner became even smarmier than usual. "The underworld."

Odette turned to Seth, their childish fighting not over just yet. "Duh." She mocked.

Seth's eyes returned to their usual narrowed expression. "Oh, great." He cursed under his breath. Surveying the option of tunnels before them, he suddenly turned left.

At the back of the group, Kate and Jacob kept up at a lumbering pace.

Kate took in the dimly lit tunnel behind her. She breathed through her mouth, almost panting as she tried to calm her hammering heart. The dark, enclosed space bringing new fears she didn't know she had. Her eyes darted around. She looked to the others ahead of them, knowing they would be the first line of defense but still feeling overwhelmingly vulnerable. The younger Fuller glanced behind her once more, licking her lips as she felt the hollow act of acceptance in her heart.

"I guess I shouldn't be afraid. If I die, I go to heaven to be with Mama." Innocent eagerness coated her words. A tone reserved for the pure of heart and most devout believers. Though her fear, she saw one benefit. "She'll be standing there right next to Jesus, waiting for me."

Jacob slowed his meandering, his face dropping. Believing he needed a break, Kate released him to lean against the wall. She looked at her father as he called her name. He seemed sad.

"Kate." He had that same look on his face as when he told her her cat Winston had died. The same look when Ettie had left the first time. And been found the second. It was the look of sorrow and pity veiled with the desperation for her to understand what he would say next. Understand what, she wasn't sure.

"What?" She looked him up and down. Her mother's green eyes staring up at him.

His heart felt like it was being ripped apart in a twisting flurry of frantic beats. One he said it, it couldn't be taken back. Just like Ettie said. It was a burden to those who knew it. A burden that shouldn't be placed on the children who still held so much faith. Jacob almost backed down again. Almost.

If there was one thing this night had taught him, it was that his children were more capable than he thought. She needed to know the truth. And if this was indeed the judgment of Christ coming down on them, he owed her an explanation for why he's damned her with him. "There's something I have to tell you about your mother."

"What is it?"

"It will break her." He was warned.

Jacob could remember staring at Odette standing at the end of his hospital bed. Silent tears running down a hard face of unwavering resolve. It had taken only a minute of suffocating silence after his confession that the warning left her. His oldest's voice shook. "Scott, Kate-" She shook her head. "Kate especially." Odette shuddered as she took a breath. Jacob felt his heartbreak, understanding why. Scott and Ettie would be okay. They had each other, a shared broader view of God and all that he was and could be. Kate... Kate was her mama's girl through and through.

"She's strong, like you." It was one of the few similarities he saw in his daughters. They put their mind to something and there was no stopping them. Nothing could daunt them.

Ettie smiled a somber grin filled with pain as she bit her lip between her teeth. "Yeah. I know." Her watched the monitors beeping beside his bed, the steady beeping rather calming. "Stubborn as shit." She whispered. Jacob didn't have the strength to scold her. "Remember when Winston died? And she spent the entire Christmas asking you, asking God, asking Santa Claus... do cats go to people heaven and would she get to see him again?" Jacob closed his eyes, resting his head back on the pillow. He did indeed. "She was so obsessed with finding the answer you and mom had to bring in your friends to help convince her..." Odette's stoic mask was broken, her face crumpling. "I still don't think she fully believes you."

Suicide was a sin. In the bible he preached from, the sermons she had heard, there was only one fate for her mother. "How can you expect her to know _that_ and still be... _Kate_?"

"Faith."

Jacob wiped at his sweaty brow, looking down at his daughter before him. Even with the odds compiled against them, she stayed by his side unafraid of what lie ahead. His faith in God may be, but his faith in Kate was unwavering. "You got to _stay_ strong." He whispered, nodding his head in encouragement. "That's how we're gonna get through this."

"Daddy, what is it?" she asked again confused.

Jacob tried to force the courage that would make him speak the words. "Ettie and I... We l-"

A ferocious screeching echoed through the corridor behind them.

Kate dared to lean over to peek at the empty hallway behind her father. "What was _that_?" Any calm she projected was an illusion, her heart hammering once more as she stared at the hallway. It screamed again, growing closer. Was that an echo or were there more?

The group stilled, hoping it would pass. "Something's coming." The words fell from her lip low like a curse. Somewhere in the interconnecting chambers, they could hear the thumping of feet. Whatever was coming, there were many, and they were fast.

Ettie was the first to break. " _Run!_ " She ordered. Seth and Tanner shot forwards, Ettie turning back. She pushed Kate from her father, taking over as a stronger support. "Katie, go!" She screamed. Flustered and scared Kate kept her slower pace. She couldn't leave them here.

"Wait!" She cried weakly, seeing the men turn a corner, gone from sight. Her voice cracked as she tried to scream. "Wait! _Don't leave us!_ " She begged. She ran ahead, stopping and waiting as she kept one eye on the stranglers and one eye on the men continuing down the dim paths. "Hurry!" Kate motioned for her fmaily to followed. She wasn't sure what scared her more, the thing catching them now or being left and lost in the maze.

 _"Watch him."_ Freddie's voice was in Ettie's ear. _"He'll turn on you and leave you to die."_

She couldn't take that risk. "Kate, go!" Odette's voice was deeper, demanding she stop waiting for them and follow the others before she was lost.

"Not without you!" Kate almost cried, pulling them into the next corridor. She was scared, she could admit that. But the idea of being down here without them was too much to bear. "They went this way," Kate directed them, pointing to the end of the hall.

A few turns ahead, the cry echoed in the chambers. Seth grabbed at the wall, stopping at the sound. He paced himself. He wasn't stopping but he sure as hell wasn't gonna just leave them there, either. Seth slapped the cold wall, running forward with renewed gusto. His eyes searched one hall and another. He needed a plan, he needed a plan, _plan, plan, plan, plan, pl…_

It was all that ran through his head as he searched. The was a feeling he got when a plan fell through. It was the same feeling as when he was a child, scared and overwhelmed by fire and smoke so thick he couldn't breath or think. It was the reason he was so meticulous about planning his jobs. No need to have someone pull your ass from the fire if you've memorized the escape routes and brought an extinguisher.

He entered another turn, this hallway having an end. Creates stacked haphazardly around it, a light shone through the crack of a set of doors. An idea lit his mind, the closest thing to a plan he had. "Door!" Seth called Tanner to him, hoping the others heard.

The two men began slamming their weight into the heavy wood. The planks shimmied and clattered, but would always bounce back. The sporadic hits alone weren't enough to break it open. "Wait-wait-wait." Seth stopped. "On three." He looked to Tanner. Perhaps a uniformed push would do it.

"One. Two. Three." Tanner and Seth rammed the door at the same time. The loose lock gave way at last. They nearly crashed face first into the storage room.

"Come on, Daddy!" Kate cried, the sound growing closer to them. "Come on!" She screamed, taking his other arm and trying to help carry him. She let out a sharp scream at the sight of the first Chanans turn after them.

Seth turned, grabbing the doors to close them. He froze at the sight of the empty hallway and the scream that echoed through it. His face dropped in sickly surprise. He could feel those flames getting closer.

"Close the door!" Tanner huffed and puffed behind him.

"Shut up," Seth ordered. He waited, silent and anxious.

"They're Chanan food. Close the door!" Tanner screamed desperately. If he left those doors open any longer they might as well be out in the open still.

Seth glowered back at him, enraged. "Shut up!" He wasn't gonna leave them to die out there.

"Damn it, man!"

" _Wait!_ " Came a familiar shrill cry. Seth turned, spotting the girls drag their father around the corner. It felt like his lungs were about to burst.

In the safety of the alcove, Ettie dropped Jacob's arm and turned. She brought the stake down into the heart of the Chanan behind them. Kate folded under the sudden weight. She and Jacob stumbling to the ground. Jacob glanced back, seeing her in her fencing costume as she ducked out of the way and swiftly stabbed a second. Odette retreated back out of sight, running to meet another Chanan while she still had the upper hand. The distance she put between them giving Kate time to get their father and run.

"Please!" Kate begged again. New tears had formed as she tried to lift her father, watching as their fate closed in around them. "Ettie!" Kate cried for her.

Tanner, desperate to not go down with them, began screaming over them, "What the hell are you doing?! Close the goddamn do-"

Seth rocked back and forth, coming to a conclusion that surprised them all. _Stupid fucking morals._ "Shit," He cursed himself, running out of what small safety he had and into the hall of death.

He pulled Kate up roughly, pushing her towards the door. "Come on! Come on!" He urged the old man. His eyes glanced to Odette, killing a third and clearing the hallway for now. At any moment they would be outnumbered. Ettie started retreating back, keeping her guard up for anymore nasty surprised.

Seth picked the old man up, dragging him back into the safer hallway and to the room. _"Fuller!_ " He called for Odette. She better not die on him.

Odette didn't need to be told twice. She sprinted to catch up with them. A hoard of Chanan's gaining on her heels.

"For the love of god! Close the fucking d-" Tanner didn't get to finish as Seth shoved him away from the doors he tried to close. Tanner falling back and sliding on his ass at the force of it.

"Come on, come on, come on-" He quietly chanted. She nearly slid past in her attempt to turn. His hand reached out, rapidly motioning for her to come closer. Like a relay race in the final stretch, his foot stepped out, reaching for her. "Move, Ettie!" He shouted at her. Ettie stretched her hand out, letting him take it. Seth held tight, jerking them back with all his might.

Tanner and Jacob slammed the door shut behind them. They had no time to rest, flinging their bodies against the wood to counter the crowd on the other side. Ettie grit her teeth, leaning her forehead against the wood in desperation as her feet began slipping on the smooth stone under her. They couldn't hold it much longer.

"Kate, find something to block the door!"

Smaller than the rest, even her lighter weight was missed. The group was pushed back, an arm coming through the opening at the sudden leeway. Beside her, Seth eased back and turned, slamming his back into the door, slamming it shut once more.

"Here! Here!" Kate handed Tanner a heavy wooden board from amidst the clutter. Tanner barred the door, inserting the simple but effective lock. Sensing the sudden refortification, the creatures on the other side eased their attack before falling quiet.

Hesitantly, Jacob and Tanner moved away from the doors. They could still hear nails clawing at it from the other side despite the wood's thickness. It was only a temporary fix, but it worked all the same. As Jacob explored the small room, the others caught their breath.

Tanner sighed with an exhaustion he didn't deserve. He turned to Kate and dared a smile. "You can thank me later." There was no shame.

Kate's body went ridged, hackles rising as she stared at the man who had wanted to leave her sister for dead. Leaning up, she grabbed his shoulders. Tanner's smile widened into a grin expecting a polite little thank you kiss for saving the day. He hadn't thought that she'd be as feisty as her sister.

She brought him down without mercy, ramming her knee into the soft underside of his crotch where not even leather could protect him from the blow. Wheezing, the Professor fell to his knees and cupped himself. "Chivalry's dead now."

Ettie managed a laugh through her panting. Seth giving an amused huff beside her. Backs against the door, they looked to each other.

Ettie's smile lingered, slowly fading as she stared at him. Her hazel eyes appraising his face as if searching for something. Though narrowed, there was no malice in her expression. It was something more akin to wonder.

"What?" He felt flustered under the soft gaze, not used to it without its usual bite. Last time she looked at him like that he got talked out of killing the ranger. He'd learn form that mistake...

Her voice was soft. Disbelieving her own two eyes, she continued to study him, as it making sure he was the same person. "You came back."

"Yeah." Seth just as softly, seemingly hurt by the notion she didn't think he would. His eyes lowered to her lips seeing an almost teasing smile start to grow. It pulled at something in him. He cleared his throat, straightening up. "Yeah, well, I told you," He regarded the group of people before him. "I'm a bastard, but I'm not an f-"

"Not a fucking bastard." She finished with him, droning a second behind him. "Yeah." She subtly nodded as she stared at the others. The weird thing was that she already knew that. Seth Gecko may be a lot of things, but perhaps, just maybe, he wasn't as terrible a guy as they'd like to believe. Hell kidnapping and all he was still higher in her books than Tanner. She turned to him once more. "Thanks." There was no sardonic bite to it this time.

 _"Preacher, check this out! It's cargo."_ Tanner called from a secondary room hidden by a stack of empty crates. _"UPS and Fed-Ex,"_ He whistled. _"Saucey."_

Seth was the first to break their gaze. Schooling his features he held down a hand for her once more. "Now we're even." He left no room for argument, resuming his bossy attitude.

Despite her disbelieving wide eyes, she took the offer, letting him help her up. "Are you kidding me? I had it." She argued. She could have very well been left alone and handled those last five feet herself, unlike the mob that tried to tear him in two.

"Sure you did, sweetheart."

"Oh lord," Jacob's eyes were as wide as the others as they stared at the rows and rows of shipping crates and packages that seemed to fill the room. Some were left open, rummaged through and left with parts out. Flashlights, coolers, even yard flamingos laid strewn about.

Seth picked up a golden vase feeling its weight in his hands. "Probably from all the truckers and travelers these buzzards have been snacking on for years."

"I'd say centuries." Ettie held up a tarnished morion helmet, the distinct shape and ridge across the center a dead give away. "Conquistadors." She turned it their way.

"Jesus, they got-" Seth put down the vase, poking around the various stages of craft and design of the creates. Both child and thief in him growing giddy at the what laid around them. It was like when uncle Eddy took them to that museum and ditched them for a few hours. Richie preoccupied with snagging trinkets from the gift store to sell later, Seth found himself rather enjoying the solitude as he explored on his own. "they got stuff here that goes back who knows how long."

Entranced by the riches buried amongst the junk, Seth did now as he had then. He wandered off to explore. Distracted by what was stacked above him, the gun came without warning. Seth was cold-cocked with the end of a rife, the force knocking him on his back with a weak grunt. "Shit!"

 _"Welcome to the party, baby!"_

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 **Please Review :)**

 ***chants of kiss, kiss, kiss begin* Reminder that reviews are like much needed charges for writers, please help keep our batteries going, alerts and favorites only go so far, but as always thank you to those who do. The next chapter will probably be shorter but if I kept it on the end of this chapter it made it seem very forced and muddled.  
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	9. Writers Note please read so I can update

Hey so I'm trying _so_ hard to update this and just push myself over this plot-locked hill of season 1 so I can embrace season 2 and have that freedom and fun but I'm having such a hard time both personally and writing-wise and if you guys could just, please leave a review or something and let me know if anyone still cares because I'm trying so hard. I am. I swear I am. Help me get through this please. Give me a sign its worth something? Anyone? Literally any 1 / ONE (SINGLE) Review to save this fic? **  
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